Airstrike leaves one dead and at least ten injured in Tel Aviv – Queen City News

Israeli police and first responders gather at the scene of a deadly explosion in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Erik Marmor)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A massive explosion rocked the streets of central Tel Aviv early Friday morning after an apparent drone strike rained down shrapnel and injured at least 10 people, authorities said.

The Israeli military said it was investigating the explosion and intensifying air patrols following the incident. Initial investigations had shown that the incident was caused by “an aerial target.”

It was not immediately clear how the attack evaded Israeli air defenses or how Israel might respond.

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai described the attack on X as a drone strike, but the military has not yet specified the nature of the attack. Yemen’s Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and rockets at Israel during the nine-month war in sympathy with Hamas. However, as of Friday, all attacks had been intercepted by either Israel or Western allies with troops stationed in the region.

The country has not yet attacked the Houthis, instead letting its allies take the lead while it focuses its efforts on the war in Gaza and ongoing fighting with the militant Lebanese Hezbollah group.

Local police said the explosion occurred at about 3:10 a.m. Friday morning, reverberating into surrounding towns and injuring at least 10 people. Tel Aviv district commander Peretz Amar said officials were unable to pinpoint the site of the impact, suggesting the explosion occurred in the air.

“The force of the explosion did not cause much damage, but it was spread over a large area. At the moment we do not know what the object was,” said Amar.

Israel has a layered air defense system capable of intercepting threats ranging from long-range missiles to drones and short-range rockets. These various systems have intercepted thousands of missiles over the course of the war. However, officials warn that they are not 100 percent effective, and the systems appear to have struggled against small and hard-to-detect attack drones. It is not known which system, if any, was used.

Like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis are backed by Israel’s arch-enemy Iran. Israel has largely avoided direct confrontation with Iran throughout the war. In a single incident in April, Iran fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel in response to Israel’s alleged assassination of two Iranian generals in Syria.

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