Al-Houthi: ‘Targeting Tel Aviv is a leap in operations against Israel’

The Yemeni Houthi group stated on Friday that its drone attack on the city of Tel Aviv was a “qualitative leap” in its operations against Israel.

This came in a post by a member of the group’s Supreme Political Council, Mohammad Ali Al-Houthi, who posted on X about the drone attack on Tel Aviv at dawn on Friday.

Al-Houthi wrote: “We congratulate the leader (leader of the group, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi) and the heroes of the Yemeni people for their first operation that hit the temporary entity (Israel) in Jaffa (Tel Aviv).”

He added: “This qualitative development confirms the jihadist concern carried by Commander Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, the Yemeni people and the armed forces (affiliated with the group) and is a message of continued support (for Gaza).”

“We thank God for this qualitative leap, and we thank the heroes of the Yemeni drones,” continued Al-Houthi.

At dawn on Friday, the group announced that it had carried out an attack that was “the first of its kind,” with a bomb-laden drone targeting Tel Aviv, declaring it: “An unsafe area and a primary target for its weapons.”

For his part, a senior Israeli official told Israel’s Ynet News site: “Israel will respond to the drone attack carried out by the Houthis.”

The official, whose name was not revealed, continued: “The option of attacking Yemeni territory is on the table.”

Following the attack, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation confirmed: “One Israeli was killed, and ten others were injured when a drone fell in central Tel Aviv, hundreds of metres away from the American Embassy.”

Israel’s Channel 12 reported: “Despite intense Israeli defensive efforts, the drone was not intercepted. Security sources say that the incident was a major operational failure, and an in-depth investigation is being conducted to examine why the location of the drone was not determined in advance.”

In solidarity with Gaza, which is facing a devastating Israeli war with US support, the Houthis are targeting Israeli cargo ships or those linked to them sailing in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean using missiles and drones.

READ: Who are Yemen’s Houthis?