Footage from the scene appeared to show an armed drone exploding over a residential building close to the U.S. diplomatic mission.

By Charles Bybelezer, JNS

An Israeli man was killed and four were wounded overnight Thursday when what the Israel Defense Forces described as an “aerial target” exploded over a residential neighborhood in central Tel Aviv.

Magen David Adom emergency medics treated a 25-year-old woman and 37-year-old man for shrapnel wounds before evacuating them to Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center’s Ichilov Hospital.

Two others were wounded either by shrapnel or the shockwave of the explosion.

During the search of a building, medics found the lifeless body of a man in his 50s with “penetrating injuries” and determined the fatality was caused by the blast.

Four additional people were being treated at the hospital for anxiety.

The explosion occurred just after 3 a.m. local time in the area of Ben Yehuda Street, a few blocks away from the U.S. diplomatic mission in the heart of the coastal city.

A U.S. official said the embassy branch office was not damaged and no American citizens were hurt, Axios reported.

Footage from the scene appeared to show an armed drone exploding over a building on the corner of Shalom Aleichem Street.

“An initial inquiry indicates that the explosion in Tel Aviv was caused by the falling of an aerial target,” the IDF stated. “The incident is under thorough review. Israeli security forces are currently operating at the scene.”

No sirens were activated in Tel Aviv ahead of the attack.

The Israel Air Force “increased its air patrols in order to protect Israeli airspace,” the military added.

To everyone chanting “bomb Tel Aviv” at Free Palestine protests: This strike is a direct consequence of your dehumanization of Jews and Israelis.

This attack should be condemned, yet people are already celebrating it. It’s despicable.

Does this terror seriously make you happy? pic.twitter.com/gzOOtsDkr4

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) July 19, 2024

A spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi terrorists claimed responsibility for the “high-quality” attack using a new UAV dubbed “Jaffa.”

Arabic-language media reported that the Iranian-backed group also launched a ballistic missile and three more drones at Israel, all of which were intercepted by U.S. forces stationed in the region.

On Monday, U.S. Central Command said that the Houthis had attacked an Israeli tanker, carrying vegetable oil from Russia to China in the Red Sea, multiple times in 24 hours.

In March, a cruise missile launched by the Yemeni terrorists hit an open area near the southern resort city of Eilat. The incident marked the first time that a Houthi missile penetrated Israeli territory.

In many similar attacks since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, IDF air defenses managed to shoot down the projectiles over the Red Sea.