Explosion near U.S. Embassy office in Tel Aviv kills 1, injures 7

On Jul 19, 2024

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JERUSALEM — One person was killed and eight others injured in an explosion after a drone attack claimed by the Iran-backed Houthi group on Tel Aviv early Friday, yards from the U.S. Embassy branch office, raising the prospect of all-out regional war.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that an initial probe indicated the explosion was caused by a falling “aerial target,” a term used typically to refer to drones. The IDF said it increased air patrols “to protect Israeli airspace.” No siren was activated, and the IDF said the incident was under review.

The military spokesman of the Houthis, a Yemen-based group that has been lobbing drones at the southern Israeli city of Eilat for months, said on social media early Friday that the group will reveal details about the “quality operation” that targeted Tel Aviv.

The fatality was a 50-year-old man who was found with severe shrapnel injuries in an apartment adjacent to the blast, said Roee Klein, a paramedic with Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency service.

The unprecedented attack took place hours after the Israeli air force killed two top commanders of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group in Lebanon with which Israel has been exchanging fire. Israel’s aerial defense system, outfitted primarily for rockets, has for months struggled to identify and eliminate Hezbollah drones — which fly faster, lower and often in nonlinear paths — in attacks on Israel’s north.

In the hours after the explosion, Israeli bomb disposal experts and rescue teams were operating at the site. Police urged residents to avoid approaching the scene and touching “rocket remnants that may contain explosives.”

Tel Aviv’s mayor, Ron Huldai, posted on X that the city was on “high alert” after the drone attack and that residents were required to follow emergency instructions. “The war is still here, and it is hard and painful,” he said.

It was not immediately clear whether the drone was targeting the U.S. Embassy branch office. U.S. Embassy officials in Israel did not respond to request for comment early Friday.

This is a developing story and will be updated. Ables reported from Seoul.