Tel Aviv hit by drone attack claimed by Iranian-backed Houthis

By Rami Amichay

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - A large, long-range drone hit the centre of Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday, in an attack claimed by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia that killed one man and slightly wounding four others, the Israeli military and emergency services said.

The explosion, which did not trigger air raid alarms, occurred hours after the Israeli military confirmed it had killed a senior commander of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon.

"We're talking about a large UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) that can fly large distances," an Israeli military official told journalists after the strike. The official did not confirm the claim from the Yemen-based Houthi militia but said: "We're not ruling out any possibilities right now."

The attack on Tel Aviv is likely to fan fears about further fallout from the Gaza war, as the Houthis and other Iranian proxies side with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The Israeli official said the military was still investigating why the drone did not trigger the alarm, but initial reports suggested the drone was identified but the sirens were not sounded due to human error.

The military said air patrols had been increased to protect Israeli airspace but said it had not ordered new civil defence measures, however the mayor of Tel Aviv said the city, Israel's economic centre, had been moved to a state of heightened alert.

A spokesman for Yemen's Houthi militants, which like Hezbollah are backed by Iran, said the group had attacked Tel Aviv with a drone and would continue to target Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war.

In a televised speech, spokesperson Yahya Saree called Tel Aviv a primary target "within the range of our weapons".

He said the strike was carried out using a new drone called "Yafa", which he said was capable of bypassing interception systems and undetectable by radars. "The operation has achieved its goals successfully," Saree said.

Israel's emergency services said the body of a 50 year-old man was found in an apartment close to the explosion and said the circumstances were being investigated.

Four people were taken to hospital with slight shrapnel injuries and four others were treated for shock. All of them were later released, the hospital said.

Footage from the site showed an apparent impact on a building located close to U.S. embassy premises in Tel Aviv.

Israeli media said fragments from an drone of a kind widely used by Iranian-backed militia groups in the region had been recovered nearby.

Israel has been exchanging daily missile and artillery fire with Hezbollah along its northern border and in southern Lebanon since the start of the war in Gaza, prompting fears of a wider regional conflict if the situation escalates.

The Houthis have also stepped up attacks against Israel and Western targets, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Israel invaded the Gaza Strip following an attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel in October last year.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie; additional reporting by Ahmed Elimam and Clauda Tanios Editing by Christopher Cushing and Christian Schmollinger and Miral Fahmy)