Yemen drone attack on Israel resort in Eilat wounds 22

Jerusalem: Israel’s military said a drone launched from Yemen struck the southern tourist resort of Eilat on Wednesday, with rescuers reporting nearly two dozen wounded.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

An Israeli military statement said the drone “fell in the area of Eilat” on the Red Sea coast after air defences had failed to intercept it, in the second such incident within days.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service said its teams had treated 22 casualties, including two men, aged 26 and 60, who were in serious condition with shrapnel wounds.

One person was moderately injured with a shrapnel wound to the back, and 19 others were in light condition suffering “from shrapnel and other injuries”, the medical service said.

Police said the drone fell in Eilat’s city centre, causing damage in the area frequented by tourists.

Footage shared on social media, which AFP could not independently verify, showed a drone flying above the resort town before crashing with smoke rising from the impact area.

Huthi military spokesman Yahya Saree, in a statement issued later, said the Iran-backed group had launched two drones at two targets in southern Israel.

Eilat mayor Eli Lankri called on the government to “strike the Huthis hard” in retaliation for the drone attack.

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12, Lankri said repeated Huthi attacks had disrupted operations at Eilat’s port.

Later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a severe response.

“Any attack on Israel’s cities will be met with a harsh and painful blow against the Huthi terror regime, as has been shown before,” he said in a statement.

The Israeli army earlier said air raid sirens rang throughout Eilat, a popular resort town at Israel’s southern tip near the Egyptian and Jordanian borders where Israeli authorities had reported a drone strike on Thursday.

Israel has already carried out multiple air raids on rebel-held areas of Yemen, and last month assassinated the head of the Huthi government together with 11 other senior officials.

Yemen’s Huthis have repeatedly launched missiles and drone at Israel since the start of the war in Gaza, with the rebel group saying it was acting in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas which attacked Israel in October 2023.