In what could spark spiraling escalation of warfare between Yemen’s Houthis, Hezbollah and the State of Israel, a large drone struck a high-rise building in central Tel Aviv overnight, killing 1 and wounding 8 more. Using social media, a Houthi spokesman indicated the group had launched a “military operation” that “targeted ‘Tel Aviv’ in occupied Palestine’.”

Saudi-headquartered Al Arabiya reported that the Houthis fired four drones and a ballistic missile. The missile and three of the drones were said to have been shot down by US forces in the region. Witnesses say the 3:15 am blast was so loud, it was audible for miles. In video circulating on social media that purportedly captured the strike, a telltale buzzing sound is heard followed by a blinding flash and the sound of an explosion: 

CCTV footage of the explosion in Tel Aviv. The sound of a drone can clearly be heard before the explosion. pic.twitter.com/nrQUUpyhJw

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) July 19, 2024

“The whole building shook,” Alon, a local resident, told Haaretz. “My neighbours’ windows shattered so I was sure something had hit the building. It was only when I went outside that I realized that several buildings had been damaged.” According to one report, eight victims were hospitalized; four were wounded, while the others were receiving treatment “for anxiety.” 

On a nearby sidewalk, a policeman stands next to what may be a wing from the drone (via Twitter)

No alarms were sounded. This latest Israel Defense Forces (IDF) failure promises to heighten Israelis’ sense of vulnerability that persists nine months after the stunning Oct. 7 Hamas invasion of southern Israel. Following the attack, the IDF said it had elevated air patrols to bolster defenses. While it wasn’t struck, a branch office of the US embassy was described as just 100 meters away from the blast. (For perspective, that’s even closer than the distance between former President Trump and the sniper perched on a gently-sloping but mostly-dangerous roof in Butler, Pennsylvania.)  

While ZeroHedge can’t confirm their authenticity, these videos circulating on social media are said to show an aerial view of an enormous fireball, and the ensuing smokey chaos in the streets:

⚡️ New scenes of the moment the drone exploded in a building in occupied Tel Aviv. pic.twitter.com/aSIRTRrCDB

— Middle East Observer (@ME_Observer_) July 19, 2024

To everyone chanting “bomb Tel Aviv” at Free Palestine protests: This strike is a direct consequence of your dehumanization of Jews and Israelis.

This attack should be condemned, yet people are already celebrating it. It’s despicable.

Does this terror seriously make you happy? pic.twitter.com/gzOOtsDkr4

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) July 19, 2024

A paramedic who was among the first to respond to the attack told Haaretz that he treated two wounded people in the street, and two more who were in their residences in the building. “Shortly [after that], we found the fatality on one of the top floors of an adjacent building. He was in bed and there was shrapnel damage everywhere in his apartment.” 

Hours after the attack, a Houthi spokesman used a televised speech to declare that Tel Aviv would continue to be a principal target “within the range of our weapons.” He touted a new drone called “Yafa” — presumably named after the Jaffa region of Israel where Tel Aviv is located. “It is capable of bypassing interception systems and radars cannot detect it,” the Houthis claimed in an accompanying tweet. Tel Aviv is some 1,200 miles from Yemen. 

Along with the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, Yemen’s Houthis have been waging war on Israel and Israel-linked cargo ships, in solidarity with millions of Palestinians suffering under the effects of the IDF’s devastating military attacks and blockade on Gaza that began after the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion. 

Friday morning’s attack on Tel Aviv came hours after the IDF claimed it had killed a senior commander of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, which has been increasingly aggressive in striking targets across northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. That commander, Ali Jaafar Maatouk, was said to have died when an IDF fighter-jet strike obliterated the three-story house he was in: 

מטוסי קרב תקפו הערב מפקדה של כוח רדואן בה שהו מחבלים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב ג׳מיג׳מה, לצד מפקדה נוספת של הארגון במרחב מג׳דל סלם>> pic.twitter.com/XyD7rAHQnR

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 18, 2024

Watch for a significant IDF retaliation for the Tel Aviv strike, which could, in turn, invite even more ambitious aggression by the forces arrayed against the State of Israel.  

We must add Houthis did warn about expanding their threat coverage to the Mediterranean area in May (read: here). 

“Between hitting a tanker carrying Russian oil and their latest attack inside Israel, the Houthis are overextending themselves and will soon feel the pain of real firepower as Israel looks beyond Gaza and Lebanon and the US, potentially under Trump, gets tougher on Iran and its proxies,” said Scott Modell, who heads Rapidan Energy Group.