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‘Suicide drone’ explodes near US consulate in Tel Aviv – reports One killed in drone attack near US Embassy in Tel Aviv
(about 1 hour later)
Multiple people have suffered shrapnel injuries following a blast in Israel Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for the blast
An explosion has injured at least seven people near the US consulate in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. A man in his 30s and a woman in her 20s suffered shrapnel wounds, while others sustained lighter injuries, according to the Times of Israel. One person has been killed in an explosion following a drone strike on Tel Aviv early on Friday, not far from a US Embassy branch office in the Israeli city. At least ten people are being treated for injuries, local emergency officials have said.
The blast on Friday morning was preceded by a loud whirring noise, according to eyewitnesses and footage circulating online. Police are studying the shrapnel and debris to determine whether the explosion was caused by a drone, local media reported. 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) is also investigating the incident, which it suspects was caused by “an aerial target,” a military term it uses for drones, the Times of Israel wrote. No air sirens were heard ahead of the blast, the newspaper reported.  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.”
מטורף: תיעוד פיצוץ הכטב"מ בעיר תל אביב, שומעים זמזום ואז פיצוץ אדיר!Crazy: Documentation of the UAV explosion in the city of Tel Aviv, you hear a hum and then a huge explosion! https://t.co/DOYFImMPZFpic.twitter.com/wMtqBZHjRgמטורף: תיעוד פיצוץ הכטב"מ בעיר תל אביב, שומעים זמזום ואז פיצוץ אדיר!Crazy: Documentation of the UAV explosion in the city of Tel Aviv, you hear a hum and then a huge explosion! https://t.co/DOYFImMPZFpic.twitter.com/wMtqBZHjRg
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for the incident. “The specific operation, the details of which will be announced, targeted Tel Aviv in occupied Palestine,” Houthi spokesman General Yahya Saree wrote on X. 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 blast took place less than a few hundred meters from the former US embassy building in Tel Aviv on Shalom Aleichem street, local media reported.  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.
The explosion happened in the air and the sound reportedly carried to nearby towns. “The blast apparently occurred at some altitude,” Haaretz quoted the police as saying. “We still do not know what it was. Right now, we are clearing the area. There was a lucky escape here.” 
Police added that eyewitnesses saw a “red lump” in the sky, which could explain why the explosion didn’t occur in a building or on the ground.
WATCH | The moment a suicide drone hits a building near the US consulate in Tel Aviv. pic.twitter.com/FPOLcYqAliWATCH | The moment a suicide drone hits a building near the US consulate in Tel Aviv. pic.twitter.com/FPOLcYqAli
Several photos circulating on X (formerly Twitter) 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. 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.
🇮🇱#Israel: Parts of the drone that was found near the site of explosion in Tel Aviv. https://t.co/or60t5SEPmpic.twitter.com/Vtd8gkWvOS🇮🇱#Israel: Parts of the drone that was found near the site of explosion in Tel Aviv. https://t.co/or60t5SEPmpic.twitter.com/Vtd8gkWvOS