IDF: Drone that killed man in Tel Aviv not intercepted due to human error

Israel’s Air Force did detect the long-range UAV but did not classify it as hostile and, therefore, didn’t intercept it.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

After an IDF investigation into an incident involving a suicide drone that hit a Tel Aviv building, killing one and wounding 10, human error was the reason it wasn’t intercepted.

Israel’s Air Force did detect the long-range UAV but did not classify it as hostile and, therefore, didn’t intercept it.

In addition, no siren sounded because the UAV wasn’t perceived as originating from an enemy.

IDF stated, “This is a bad incident that should not have occurred and the Air Force takes full responsibility as the protector of the country’s skies.”

The attack occurred just a few hours after the elimination of a Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, although this has not yet been confirmed.

The Houthi’s military wing released a statement saying the attack was “A victory and revenge for the oppression of the Palestinian people and their mujahideen and in retaliation to the Zionist enemy’s massacres against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”

The Yemen-based and Iran-backed terror group claimed that the drone was a new model called “Yafa” that is “capable of bypassing the enemy’s interception systems and is undetectable by radars. The operation has achieved its goals successfully.”

The Houthis said they will “focus on targeting the Zionist enemy’s internal front and reaching the depths.”

The drone attack occurred at 3:12 am on Ben Yehuda Street, close to the US embassy.

One man in his 50s was declared dead when Magen Dovid Adom arrived on the scene and ten others were treated for shrapnel wounds and burns.

MDA Paramedic Roee Klein, and EMTs Yoel Rosenthal and Asher Greider recalled the attack scene.

“We were quickly on scene and witnessed a major disturbance and damage caused by the explosion. We started to search the area and 4 casualties reached us, 2 injured at home – a male, 37, and female, 47, and 2 others who were injured in the street, female 25, and male, 30.”

They added, “They were all fully conscious and suffered shrapnel injuries to shoulders and limbs, and one who suffered blast injuries.”