For Every Violently Hostile Action : Swift Reaction

"The security system will settle the score with all who try to harm the state of Israel, or sends terrorism against it, in a decisive and surprising manner."

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant -- Friday

"The fire that is currently burning in Hodeidah is seen across the Middle East and the significance is clear."

"The Houthis attacked us over 200 times. The first time that they harmed an Israeli citizen, we struck them, and we will do this in any place where it may be required."

Yoav Gallant -- Saturday

A man looks at a building in Tel Aviv damaged at the site of an explosion, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, on Friday. (Ricardo Moraes/Reuters)

"'Hey, what's that over there? It looks cool'. I turn around, hear this large, deafening buzz, like an F-35 or an F-15, but it was only roughly 40 metres above sea level. It didn't make sense."

"Obviously, all of this stuff can be replaced. The most important thing is we left with our lives."

"It's important to note that this is a residential area. It's not a military target."

Jonathan Karten, Israeli Tel Aviv resident, Shalom Aleichem Street

The 'jet' that Tel Aviv resident Jonathan Karten heard was in reality a drone controlled by Houthis in Yemen to target Tel Aviv. During the October 7 massacre in southern Israel by Palestinian terrorists who flocked in their thousands across the border to mutilate, torture and slaughter 1,200 Israeli civilians in border farming kibbutzim and at the Nova Music Festival, hundreds of rockets were fired from Gaza at Tel Aviv, and in days following. During that time of confusion and response, almost all of the rockets had been intercepted before they could strike their targets.

 

People look at building hit by a drone in a deadly June 18 attack, in Tel Aviv on July 19, 2024. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

On this more recent occasion, Friday at 3:00 a.m., the Iranian drone provided to the Houthis in Yemen had not been detected as a threat. It had been briefly tracked, then ignored. According to the Israeli military "human error was to blame for the interception failure". The Houthis identified a a new "Yafa" model able to bypass Israel's air defence systems. Dozens of drones have been fired by the Houthis at Israel following the October 7 attacks. Nearly all intercepted by Israeli fighter jets and air defence missiles.

 

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israeli military spokesman, explained that the drone was likely an Iranian-designed Samad-3, with an upgraded range extended to reach Tel Aviv. Admiral Hagari described Israel's air defences as not "hermetic", but the attack on Friday that killed one Israeli man and injured eight others when it slammed into an apartment block located on Shalom Aleichem Street has alerted the military to step up its air patrols. 

 

He warned that military leaders would decide "what the necessary operational responses are against those who threaten the state of Israel". Friday's surprise strike by the Houthis was one of a handful of Iran-backed armed groups that have sent drones and missiles to attack Israel during the Gaza war, and was the first to breach Israel's sophisticated air defences. 

 

It would not take long for Israel's governing party and the Israel Defense Forces, however, to respond to this latest assault.

 

Column of fire erupting following reported strikes by Israeli fighter jets in the Yemeni rebel-held port city of Hodeidah on Saturday.  Ansarullah Media Center/AFP via Getty Images

 

"[Israel’s attack on a Houthi-controlled port in Yemen on Saturday] makes it clear to our enemies that there is no place that the long arm of Israel will not reach."

"I have a message for Israel’s enemies – don’t be mistaken about us. We will protect ourselves in every way, on every front."

"Anyone who harms us will pay a very heavy price for his aggression."

"The port we attacked is not an innocent port. It was used as an entry point for deadly weapons supplied to the Houthis by Iran."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

 

Smoke and flames rise from a site in Hodeidah, Yemen, on Saturday in this image from video. The Israeli army says it struck several Houthi targets in western Yemen a day after a fatal drone attack by the rebel group in Tel Aviv. (The Associated Press)