TEL AVIV (Reuters) - So, on Friday morning, a big-deal Iranian-made drone smacked into the middle of Tel Aviv without so much as a "hello." The Houthi guys from Yemen took the credit for it, and the Israeli military and folks who deal with emergencies said it's legit.
What Went Down
This explosion happened without any warning sirens going off, which is pretty wild considering the whole city should've known something was up. It was just a few hours after the Israeli military said they took out a big-wig from Hezbollah down in southern Lebanon. The top dog for talking, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said the drone was like a souped-up Samad-3 from Iran. He's pretty sure it flew all the way from Yemen to Tel Aviv.
Everyone's Getting Nervous
Hagari also talked about maybe, possibly, taking out Mohammed Deif, the head honcho of Hamas's military wing, in an airstrike last week. And now, with this drone business happening right before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trip to see Uncle Sam, people are getting real anxious about the whole Gaza situation and what it could mean for everyone else.
The Aftermath
The military's looking into why the alarms didn't go off, saying it might've been a human goof-up. But, they did catch the drone on their radar, it was just too sneaky. So, now there are more planes in the sky keeping an eye out, but they're not telling us regular folks to do anything extra to stay safe. Tel Aviv's mayor just said to keep our eyes peeled.
The Houthi Side of the Story
A spokesperson for the Houthi, named Yahya Saree, totally admitted they did it. They're saying they used this new fancy drone called "Yafa," which is supposed to be like a ninja that can't be caught by defenses. Saree said the mission went off without a hitch.
The Injuries and Mess
Some sad news, a 50-year-old dude didn't make it, and four other people got hurt a bit with shrapnel. A few more were freaked out enough to need medical help for shock. The drone left a nice little mess near the U.S. embassy, with bits and pieces scattered everywhere.
The Whole Gaza Thing
This is just one more thing in the never-ending drama between Israel and Hezbollah, with rockets flying back and forth like it's nobody's business. And the Houthi guys are throwing in their two cents by attacking Israel and Western stuff, all because they're feeling the love for Palestine after the Gaza takeover.
How It All Started
This whole mess kicked off when Hamas decided to attack some Israeli towns on October 7. Since then, it's been a tough ride with around 1,200 Israelis losing their lives and over 250 being taken to Gaza. And the Palestinian health folks say over 38,000 of their people have been killed in the fighting.