Yemen’s Houthis claim responsibility for drone attack on Tel Aviv in which one person was killed and eight injured, according to the Israeli military

A massive explosion rocked the streets of central Tel Aviv early Friday morning, ripping Israelis from their beds, shattering windows and raining shrapnel. Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed the attack was carried out with a new explosive drone. Israeli officials said later Friday morning that the explosion was caused by a drone fired from Yemen. A man in his 50s was killed by shrapnel that ripped through his house and at least eight other people were injured.

The Iran-backed Houthi movementwhich has been fighting against the internationally recognized government of Yemen for a decade, claimed responsibility for the explosion and said in social media messages that it was a “new phase” in its operations against Israel in response to the Israeli ongoing war against the Houthis’ ideological ally, Hamas.

The Houthis said the attack used a “new drone called ‘Yafa’, which is capable of evading the enemy’s interception systems,” without giving further details. The explosion caused by the drone occurred very close to the US consulate in Tel Aviv, but it remained unclear if that was the target. No US casualties were reported.

Israeli authorities said the explosion struck a residential building in Tel Aviv at 3:12 a.m. (7:12 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday).

In a statement, Israel Defense Forces chief spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the drone “hit a building in central Tel Aviv, killing one civilian and slightly wounding eight.” He confirmed that “no alarm was raised” and said the military was investigating how the weapon slipped through Israel’s advanced air defenses.

Hagari said a preliminary investigation found that the drone “was fired from Yemen and that it is an Iranian weapon that has been upgraded to increase its range.”

“Iran supports and arms its subsidiaries“So far, dozens of drones have been launched from Yemen, most of which have been intercepted or shot down by CENTCOM (US military) or Israeli defense systems,” Hagari said, adding that another drone was shot down outside Israel’s borders early Friday morning as it approached from the east and that the military is “investigating the connection between the two events.”

Based on verified social media videos, CBS News confirmed that the explosion occurred just over 200 meters from the U.S. consulate in Tel Aviv. A U.S. official told CBS News that no American casualties were reported.

The Houthis have fired drones and rockets at Israel and on merchant and military ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters during the nine-month war, in solidarity with Hamas. But as of Friday, all weapons fired at Israel had been intercepted by either Israel or its Western allies.

Israel has so far not carried out any attacks directly on the Houthis, allowing its allies, the US and Britain, Take the lead Instead, it is focusing its efforts on the war in Gaza and the ongoing fighting with the militant Lebanese Hezbollah group, which is also backed by Iran.

In a statement released later Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed to “bring to justice anyone who harms the State of Israel” and said he had conducted an assessment “to review the steps needed to strengthen our defenses in light of last night’s events, as well as the intelligence and operational measures that need to be taken against those responsible for the attack.”