One killed in drone attack near US Embassy office in Tel Aviv

One person has been killed in an explosion following a drone strike on Tel Aviv early on Friday, close to a US Embassy branch office in the Israeli city. At least ten people are being treated for injuries, local emergency officials have said.

The city is on “high alert” after the drone attack and residents are required to follow emergency instructions, Tel Aviv’s mayor, Ron Huldai, wrote in a message on X (formerly Twitter). “The war is still here, and it is hard and painful,” he added.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a preliminary investigation showed the blast resulted from a falling “aerial target,” a term typically used to refer to drones. The IDF added that it has increased air patrols “to protect Israeli airspace.” It is investigating how the aircraft penetrated defense systems and why no siren was activated.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for the blast. The group’s spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said the “significant military operation” was conducted with a new drone capable of “bypassing the enemy’s interception systems.”

The blast was preceded by a loud whirring noise, according to eyewitnesses as well as dashcam and security camera footage circulating online. A 50-year-old man was found dead with severe shrapnel injuries in an apartment adjacent to the blast, Israel’s national emergency service reported. Several people were wounded by shrapnel and were taken to the hospital, while others suffered lighter injuries, according to first responders.

The incident took place on Shalom Aleichem street in the city’s central district, which is home to a number of diplomatic missions, including a US Embassy branch office.

Several photos circulating on X showed alleged fragments of a drone at the scene. One showed a piece of hull, made of a substance that looked like fiberglass, with metal parts attached. Another showed a wing lying on the sidewalk, longer than the height of a person, next to a group of people.

“We will continue to strike these targets in response to the enemy’s massacres and daily crimes against our brothers in the Gaza Strip,” Yemen’s Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree added in a televised speech. “Our operations will only cease when the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted.”

Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7. In response, West Jerusalem started an offensive in Gaza, causing unprecedented destruction in the Palestinian enclave. Hostilities between Israel and Hamas have so far claimed the lives of more than 38,000 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis, raising the prospect of all-out regional war.