At least 20 people were injured on Wednesday after a drone launched from Yemen hit a hotel in Israel’s Red Sea resort city of Eilat on the border with Jordan and Egypt, the Israeli national ambulance service Magen David Adom said.
It said two people were seriously injured while others sustained medium to light injuries.
The Israeli military said a drone launched from Yemen fell in Eilat, adding only that interception attempts were made. It later said that the attack targeted a hotel in the city.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the mayor of Eilat that he discussed with the Israeli military command ways to improve the response to aerial threats on the city.
The newspaper Israel Hayom, citing an initial investigation, said that air defence systems failed to intercept the drone. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Shortly afterwards, Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said in a post on X that Houthis “refuse to learn from Iran, Lebanon and Gaza and they will learn the hard way”.
The drone attack on Wednesday comes days after Houthis fired a drone that crashed in Eilat’s hotel zone, resulting in material damage but no casualties.
The Houthis have been launching missiles and drones thousands of kilometres north towards Israel, in what the group says are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians. Most of the dozens of missiles and drones launched have been intercepted or fallen short of Israeli territory.
Meanwhile, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Wednesday President Donald Trump had presented leaders from several Muslim-majority countries with a 21-point plan peace plan for the Middle East and Gaza. He said he was confident of “some sort of breakthrough” in the coming days.
Trump on Tuesday met leaders and officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan to discuss the nearly two-year-long war in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas.
The meeting was held at the UN on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly.
“We had a very productive session. We presented what we call the Trump 21-point plan for peace in the Mideast and Gaza. I think it addresses Israeli concerns and, as well, the concerns of all the neighbours in the region,” Witkoff told the Concordia summit in New York.
“We’re hopeful, and I might say, even confident that in the coming days we’ll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough,” he said.
Trump is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Monday.
An October 7 2023, Hamas attack on Israel triggered the war in Gaza. Hamas killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and about 251 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. More than 65,000 people, also mostly civilians, since have been killed during the war in Gaza, according to local health authorities.
Reuters
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.