Late night drone attack hits building in southern Israeli city of Eilat

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq took responsibility for the attack, claiming it struck a ‘vital target’ in Israel.

By JNS

A building in the southern Israeli city of Eilat was lightly damaged by a drone attack overnight Sunday, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The UAV was launched from Iraq and entered Israeli territory from Jordan, Ynet reported.

Sirens sounded in the area of the Red Sea resort town around 1:30 a.m.

“IDF soldiers identified a suspicious aerial target that crossed from the east toward Israeli territory. The target fell in the area of the Gulf of Eilat. No injuries were reported and there was light damage caused to a building,” according to the IDF.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq took responsibility for the attack, claiming it struck a “vital target” in Israel.

The umbrella group of Iranian-backed radical Shi’ite militias in Iraq and Syria is composed of Kata’ib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhadaa.

The Erbil-based, Kurdish news website Rudaw describes the Islamic Resistance in Iraq as “a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups” associated with the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

They have attempted other attacks on Israeli territory in recent months, including launching two drones from Syria at northern Israel in early January, which were shot down by Israeli Air Force fighter jets. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said the attacks were “in support of Gaza.”

In December, Jordanian air defenses intercepted armed drone fired by the group that was headed toward Eilat.

The group stated that, “The Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq targeted a target in the occupied Umm al-Rashrash, Eilat with appropriate weapons,” per Rudaw. (Mujahideen means “holy fighters.”)

Jordan’s Ministry of Defense later said it shot the drone down, Maariv reported.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have also launched multiple missile and drone attacks at Eilat in support of Hamas. Most of the launches were thwarted by Israeli, U.S. or Saudi forces or missed their targets.