‘Suicide drone’ explodes near US consulate in Tel Aviv – reports
Multiple people suffered shrapnel injuries following a blast in Israel
An explosion injured at least seven people in an area near the US consulate in Tel Aviv early Friday morning. A man in his 30s and a woman in her 20s were wounded by shrapnel and were taken to the hospital, while the others suffered lighter injuries, according to the Times of Israel.
The blast was preceded by a loud whirring noise, according to eyewitnesses as well as dashcam and security camera footage circulating online. A large number of Israeli police are on the scene, studying the shrapnel and debris to determine whether the blast was caused by a drone, local media reported.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are investigating the explosion, which it suspects was caused by “an aerial target,” a military term it uses for drones, the Times of Israel wrote, adding that no air sirens were heard ahead of the blast.
מטורף: תיעוד פיצוץ הכטב"מ בעיר תל אביב, שומעים זמזום ואז פיצוץ אדיר!
— יענקי כהן | Yanki Coen (@yankicoen) July 19, 2024
Crazy: Documentation of the UAV explosion in the city of Tel Aviv, you hear a hum and then a huge explosion! https://t.co/DOYFImMPZF pic.twitter.com/wMtqBZHjRg
The explosion happened in the air, and the sound carried to nearby towns, police stated. “The blast apparently occurred at some altitude,” Haaretz quoted the police. “We still do not know what it was. Right now, we are clearing the area. There was a lucky escape here.”
Police added that eyewitnesses saw a “red lump” in the sky, which could explain why the explosion didn’t occur in a building or on the ground.
WATCH | The moment a suicide drone hits a building near the US consulate in Tel Aviv. pic.twitter.com/FPOLcYqAli
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) July 19, 2024
The incident took place less than a few hundred meters from the former US embassy building in Tel Aviv on Shalom Aleichem street, local media reported. However, there has been no official comment from the authorities on the cause of the blast, while the IDF and Tel Aviv police continue to investigate the incident.
Several photos circulating on X (formerly Twitter) showed alleged fragments of a drone at the scene. One showed a piece of hull, made of a substance that looked like fiberglass, with metal parts attached. Another showed a wing lying on the sidewalk, longer than the height of a person, next to a group of people.
????????#Israel: Parts of the drone that was found near the site of explosion in Tel Aviv. https://t.co/or60t5SEPm pic.twitter.com/Vtd8gkWvOS
— ConflictLive ???? (@conflict_live) July 19, 2024
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have allegedly taken responsibility for the blast. “The specific operation, the details of which will be announced, targeted Tel Aviv in occupied Palestine,” Houthi spokesman, brigadier General Yahya Saree wrote on X.