The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed Friday that the “aerial target” that hit Tel Aviv, evading air defenses, killing one civilian, and wounding eight others, was an upgraded Iranian drone fired by the Houthis in Yemen.
As Breitbart News reported, an explosion was heard in the early hours of Friday morning in Tel Aviv near the former U.S. embassy on the beachfront in Tel Aviv (now used as a branch office of the main U.S. embassy in Jerusalem). It is unclear whether the embassy was the target of the attack. The only casualties were civilian; there were no alerts.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari reported:
Overnight, a UAV which we assess was launched from Yemen, infiltrated from the sea to our west, and hit a building in central Tel Aviv. As a result of the impact, a civilian was killed and eight civilians were lightly injured. We express our condolences to the family and wish the injured a speedy recovery.
During the incident, no alert was activated, and we are still thoroughly examining the incident. After our initial inquiry and based on the findings at the scene and our military systems, it is likely that this was a Samad-3 UAV, which we assess flew from Yemen to Tel Aviv. The Samad-3 is an Iranian weapon that was likely upgraded to extend its flight range. Iran supports, funds, and arms its proxies in the region, in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, as seen last night. The threat of UAVs is a threat we have faced since the beginning of the war on all our borders. So far, many dozens of UAVs have been launched from Yemen alone, most of which were intercepted or shot down while on their way or before they infiltrated Israeli territory. Most of them were intercepted by an American task force under the command of U.S. CENTCOM (U.S. Central Command), and the rest were intercepted by Israeli Air Force planes or defensive systems.
In parallel to the incident in Tel Aviv, at the same time, we intercepted another UAV that attempted to infiltrate from the east, and we shot it down outside of Israel’s borders. We are examining the connection between the two incidents.
We are conducting an inquiry into the incident and examining why the UAV was not identified as a threat and intercepted before it hit. We will examine the findings – we have already conducted an initial inquiry this morning, and we will examine the findings and update the public.
Hagari said that Israel will not change any of its home front defenses. Nevertheless, the attack represents a significant escalation.
The Houthis, a rebel militia armed and directed by Iran, had largely targeted southern Israel over the past nine months; a successful strike on Tel Aviv represents a major improvement in their capabilities. The fact that none of Israel’s air defenses picked up the drone is causing concern in Israel and could trigger a direct Israeli response.
Yemen is thousands of miles away from Israel but not out of range of Israeli attack capabilities, which Israel has not used thus far, despite being attacked dozens of times. The U.S. has adopted a largely defensive posture in the Red Sea, attempting to shoot down Houthi missiles but not taking significant action against the Houthis on land in Yemen.
President Joe Biden removed the Houthis from a list of terrorist groups on taking office, but recently re-listed them.
Anti-Israel groups in the West have applauded the Houthis’ attacks on Israel and on international shipping. Yemen has no common border with Israel but sits along the Bab-el-Mandeb strait and can choke Israel’s southern port.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
