JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said a drone launched from Yemen struck the southern resort town of Eilat on Wednesday, with rescuers reporting nearly two dozen wounded.

A military statement said the drone “fell in the area of Eilat” on the Red Sea coast after air defences had failed to intercept it, in the second such incident within days.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service said its teams had treated 22 casualties, including two men, aged 26 and 60, who were in serious condition with shrapnel wounds.

One person was moderately injured with a shrapnel wound to the back, and 19 others were in light condition suffering “from shrapnel and other injuries”, the medical service said.

Police said the drone fell in Eilat’s city centre, causing damage in the area frequented by tourists.

Footage shared on social media, which this news agency could not independently verify, showed a drone flying above the resort town before crashing with smoke rising from the impact area.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which occurred on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

Yemen’s Houthis have claimed similar attacks throughout the Gaza conflict since late 2023.

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12, Eilat mayor Eli Lankri called on the government to “strike the Houthis hard” in retaliation for the drone attack. Lankri added that repeated Houthi attacks have disrupted operations at the Eilat port.

The army earlier said air raid sirens rang throughout Eilat, a popular resort town at Israel’s southern tip near the Egyptian and Jordanian borders where Israeli authorities had reported a drone strike on Thursday.

Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened retaliation, saying that the Houthis “will learn the hard way” not to attack his country.

Israel has already carried out multiple air raids on rebel-held areas of Yemen, and last month assassinated the head of the Houthi government together with 11 other senior officials.

Houthis have repeatedly lau­nched missiles and drone at Israel since the start of the conflict in Gaza, with the rebel group saying it was acting in support of Palestinians.

The Israeli military said a drone launched from Yemen fell in Eilat, adding only that interception attempts were made.

The newspaper Israel Hayom said citing an initial investigation that air defence systems failed to intercept the drone. 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.

Israel has retaliated by bombing Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, including the vital Hodeidah port. The Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen, have also been attacking vessels in the Red Sea since the start of the conflict in Gaza in October 2023.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2025