Emergency services say two people seriously injured in the southern Israeli city after failure to intercept.
Israel’s military says a drone launched from Yemen has struck the southern city of Eilat, and rescuers report that at least 22 people are wounded, including two in serious condition, as Israel conducts its genocidal war on Gaza.
A military statement said the drone “fell in the area of Eilat” on the Red Sea coast on Wednesday after air defences failed to intercept it.
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“The public is requested to continue to follow the Home Front Command’s defensive guidelines and further guidelines issued,” it said on Telegram.
Yemen’s Houthi group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
“The operation was carried out with a number of drones and successfully achieved its objectives,” Yahya Saree, a Houthi spokesperson, told media Arabic.
“We attacked several Israeli enemy targets in the Umm al-Rashrash and Bir al-Saba’ [now named Beersheba] areas.”
media’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, Jordan, because media has been banned from Israel, said it was worth noting that this is not the first time Eilat has been struck or targeted.
“In fact, just last week, another drone launched by the Houthis made an impact,” she added, referring to the Yemeni group that has been targeting Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
“In that instance, Israel said it was investigating why the interceptors did not go off. So surely there will be an investigation as to how the interceptors failed this time around.”
‘A painful blow’
The Magen David Adom emergency medical service said two people were seriously injured with shrapnel wounds while others sustained moderate to minor injuries.
Police said bomb disposal experts were examining the nature of the object and warned the public to avoid approaching the crash site or touching any remnants that may contain explosives.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said any attack on Israeli cities will be met “with a painful blow to the Houthi regime”.
Netanyahu said he has asked the army to consider ways to respond to the air threats.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz also threatened the Houthis, saying they will “learn the hard way”.
“The Houthi terrorists refuse to learn from Iran, Lebanon, and Gaza,” Katz said on X, listing countries bombed by Israel in recent months.
“Whoever harms Israel will be harmed sevenfold,” he added.
Since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis have carried out drone and missile attacks against it. They have also targeted vessels linked to Israel in the Red Sea, disrupting maritime trade passing through the water channel.
Houthis said they will stop their attacks when a ceasefire is agreed in Gaza, where more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli offensive called genocide by a UN inquiry panel. Netanyahu faces an arrest warrant for war crimes issued by the International Criminal Court, but his Western allies have shielded him so far.
Most of the dozens of Houthi missiles and drones launched have been intercepted or fallen short of Israeli territory.
Israel has carried out numerous attacks across Yemen, including on the capital, Sanaa. Earlier this week, Israel was accused of killing 31 journalists in Yemen.
Late last month, Israel assassinated Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb al-Rahawi in an air strike in Sanaa. The group promised “vengeance” for his death and the deaths of almost half of his cabinet.
