Blast near US consulate rocks Tel Aviv; Yemen claims drone operation

Friday, 19 July 2024 2:38 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 19 July 2024 7:22 AM ]

Israeli military search the scene where an explosion took place in Tel Aviv on July 19, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Yemeni armed forces announced an operation against Tel Aviv as a powerful explosion hit an area near a US consular facility amid the failure of Israeli air defenses to intercept the drone.

The blast occurred in the city’s Ben Yehuda Street on Friday, Israeli media outlets reported.

Meanwhile, Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced that the country had launched an operation against Tel Aviv on Friday morning.

He said that further details of the operation would be announced soon.

The Israeli military has said it is opening an investigation to find out why the country’s air defense systems were not activated to intercept the drone.

Other Israeli officials were quoted as saying that an “attack drone” had entered the occupied territories' airspace from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea.

Footage captures the moment an attack drone directly struck a building in Tel Aviv pic.twitter.com/dl69lD8qCg

— Palestine Highlights (@PalHighlight) July 19, 2024

The aircraft exploded in a building lying less than 100 meters away from a US consular facility in the city, they added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly delayed his trip to Washington following the explosion.

The explosion, however, comes amid the Israeli regime’s ongoing genocidal war against the Gaza Strip, which has prompted resistance groups from across the region to stage hundreds of retaliatory strikes against targets across the occupied territories.

Chaotic scenes and widespread panic emerge from the site of the explosion in Tel Aviv pic.twitter.com/gLfG60Y2p6

— Palestine Highlights (@PalHighlight) July 19, 2024

Ever since the onset of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza early last October, the Yemeni forces have carried out scores of operations in support of the war-hit Gazans, striking targets throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, in addition to targeting Israeli ships or vessels heading towards ports in the occupied territories.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed 38,848 Palestinians, mostly women and children, leaving 89,459 others injured.