A powerful explosion in the heart of Tel Aviv, not far from an American embassy annex, left one man in his 50s dead and several others slightly injured on Friday, July 19. The Yemeni Houthi movement has claimed responsibility for the drone attack. The Israeli air force said it had identified an approaching drone, without confirming its origin, and failed to intercept it due to "human error."

The device, which is believed to have traveled more than 2,000 kilometers, penetrated Israeli defenses without triggering the city's warning sirens. It exploded shortly after 3am. "The war is still here, and it's difficult and painful," Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai reminded his constituents.

Since November 2023, the Yemeni movement has taken on a greater role in the Tehran-led "axis of resistance," thanks to the war in Gaza. In a statement, it claimed responsibility for "a qualitative military operation, targeting one of the major objectives in the occupied area of Jaffa, known in Israel as 'Tel Aviv'."

On July 14, the Houthis claimed responsibility for a drone strike on the Israeli tourist port of Eilat, supposedly in response to the previous day's Israeli strikes – which killed 90 people in Gaza, according to the local health ministry – targeting Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, whose death has not been confirmed.

The Yemeni rebels launched a series of missiles and drones toward Eilat in solidarity with Hamas after October 7, 2023. These strikes caused neither casualties nor damage, and the group represented a distant nuisance to Israel. These attacks have been coupled recently with drone attacks against the port claimed by Iraqi Shiite militias, also allied with Iran, and with whom the Houthis claim to be working. Israel left the task of responding to this threat to an American coalition, which has been carrying out limited strikes in Yemen since January.

Israel has other, more pressing concerns than Houthi attacks on commercial and military vessels off the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, although these are disrupting international traffic, some 12% of which passed through these waters before the war. Since November 2023, missiles and drones fired by the Houthis have targeted more than 60 ships, some en route to the ports of their Iranian ally. They sank two of them, killing four sailors, and the rebels also seized a ship.

After a relative lull in April, the Houthis stepped up their attacks, announcing a "fourth phase" of their campaign in early May. Their ambition is to extend this campaign to the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, although they have not yet demonstrated the capacity to do so. In response, the American coalition has struck in recent months in the region around the Yemeni port of Al Hudaydah, the country's capital Sanaa, and the central city of Taez. On May 30, a series of strikes killed 16 people and wounded 42, according to the rebels.

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