Eilat

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Emergency services say two people seriously injured in the southern Israeli city after failure to intercept.

Israel’s military says a drone launched from Yemen has struck the southern city of Eilat, and rescuers report that at least 20 people are wounded, including two in serious condition, as Israel conducts its genocidal war on Gaza.

A military statement said the drone “fell in the area of Eilat” on the Red Sea coast on Wednesday after air defences failed to intercept it.

“The public is requested to continue to follow the Home Front Command’s defensive guidelines and further guidelines issued,” it said on Telegram.

The Magen David Adom emergency medical service said two people were seriously injured while others sustained moderate to minor injuries.

Police said bomb disposal experts were examining the nature of the object and warned the public to avoid approaching the crash site or touching any remnants that may contain explosives.

Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, Jordan, because Al Jazeera has been banned from Israel, said it was worth noting that this is not the first time Eilat has been struck or targeted. “In fact, just last week another drone launched by the Houthis made an impact,” she added, referring to the Yemeni group that has been targeting Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

“In that instance, Israel said it was investigating why the interceptors did not go off. So surely there will be an investigation as to how the interceptors failed this time around.”

Since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis have carried out drone and missile attacks against it. They have also targeted vessels linked to Israel in the Red Sea, disrupting maritime trade passing through the water channel.

Most of the dozens of missiles and drones launched have been intercepted or fallen short of Israeli territory.

Israel has carried out numerous attacks across Yemen, including on the capital, Sanaa. Earlier this week, Israel was accused of killing 31 journalists in Yemen.

Late last month, Israel assassinated Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi in an air strike in Sanaa. The group promised “vengeance” for his death and the deaths of almost half of his cabinet.

A drone crashed into a hotel in the southern Israeli city of Eilat on Thursday, causing a fire but no casualties, authorities said. Yemen’s Houthi group, who have been firing drones and missiles in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Houthis strikes on Israel prove without a shadow of a doubt that America’s air strikes on Yemen are a failure, Nasr Al-Din Amer, deputy head of the Houthi group’s media office, said yesterday.

In statements to Al Jazeera, Amer added: “As much as the destruction of our infrastructure pains us, it does not affect our military operations, and we will respond.”

He stressed that “the blockade on Umm Al-Rashrash [Eilat] Port will not be lifted, nor will it resume operations. It will remain closed, and navigation will not return to normal at the Israeli enemy’s airports. They will remain closed until the aggression against Gaza stops.”

“We tell them that the operations will not end, and we are in a long battle, not an exchange of strikes. Our strikes are coming, even if you don’t attack Sana’a airport or Hudaydah Port. We will attack you because you are killing the Palestinian people,” he continued.

READ: US-Houthi ceasefire deal does not include Israel, says Houthi spokesperson

Amer asserted that the group’s operations intend to support the Palestinian people, vowing to intensify them with other advanced methods “if Israel continues to threaten ground operations in Gaza.”

He ended by saying: “We are responding within the framework of a battle with the Israeli enemy entity. As long as the aggression against Gaza continues, along with the siege and the violation of a number of Arab countries continues, we remain in a state of engagement with the enemy. We will respond with full force, we will say no, and we are confident that we will achieve victory in the battle.”

Yesterday, the Israeli occupation army announced it bombed Sanaa airport and central power stations used by the Houthis in the capital, as a response to the attack on Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday.

READ: Airlines halt all flights to Israel after Houthi missile lands near airport