The United States had given Israel prior warning about the Houthi drone that exploded in Tel Aviv on Friday, but the army decided not to shoot it down due to a series of missteps in accurately identifying the target, Channel 12 reported.
The unsourced Friday report details the chain of human error that allowed the explosive-laden craft to slam into a Tel Aviv building at 3:12 a.m. on Friday, killing one person and injuring several others. The drone, launched from Yemen, traversed Egypt and flew into Tel Aviv from the Mediterranean.
According to Channel 12, the US had succeeded in shooting down four of five drones launched from Yemen. After being alerted by the US about the remaining drone the Israel Defense Force initially concluded that it must have fallen short or crashed along the route when it did not appear near Israel after its standard estimated flight time had passed.
The miscalculation was apparently caused by the Yemen terror group modifying the drone so that it carried between five and seven kilograms of explosives, down from its standard 18 kilograms, so it could hold more fuel and fly longer.
The IDF later picked up the drone as it approached Israel from the west over the Mediterranean and followed it for six minutes, but then apparently misidentified it has a friendly craft and classified it as friendly.
According to Channel 12, the IDF was exercising extra caution because Israel had recently shot down a drone belonging to an ally.
It was unclear if the IDF was aware at this point that this was the same drone the US had warned about.
As a result, the IDF did not shoot it down and no warning sirens sounded in Tel Aviv.
The report also said that at the same time as they were tracking the Houthi drone from the West, the military also tracked and shot down a drone that was approaching from the east, apparently from launched from Iraq.
Earlier Friday, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the drone was an Iranian-made Samad-3, modified to have an extended range. According to Hagari, IDF air defenses didn’t intercept the drone, and air sirens were not activated, due to “human error.” In tandem, Hagari said, the IDF shot down an incoming drone from Iraq.
After the drone strike in Tel Aviv, the IDF decided to double the tracking staff of its air defenses and perform more scans of Israel’s airspace. According to Channel 12, Israel is also considering striking the Houthis directly.
Friday’s drone was the first Houthi-launched drone to reach Tel Aviv.
The victim was later named as Yevgeny Ferder, 50, who reportedly worked at Momo’s Hostel, adjacent to where the drone struck. His niece said he immigrated to Israel some 30 years ago, and had served in an IDF combat unit and in the IDF reserves.
MDA also said eight people were taken to local hospitals, four of whom were wounded by shrapnel or the shock waves from the blast. The other four were being treated for acute anxiety.
The impact site was adjacent to several hotels and the United States’ Tel Aviv Embassy Branch Office. The Israeli military, as of Friday morning, had no intelligence indicating that the drone attack was aimed at the embassy building.
The Iran-backed Yemeni rebels have launched over 200 drones and cruise missiles at Israel since November, according to the military. Along with Friday’s drone attack in Tel Aviv, a cruise missile struck near Eilat in March.
The IDF says the vast majority of the threats were intercepted by US forces and in a handful of cases by Israeli fighter jets and ground-based air defense systems.
The Houthis, who have also wreaked havoc on Red Sea shipping, say their offensive actions are in support of the Palestinians in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war there. The war was sparked on October 7, when the Strip’s Hamas rulers led a thousands-strong attack on southern Israel that left nearly 1,200 people dead and saw another 251 taken hostage.