The Media Line: Iranian Strikes Kill One in Tel Aviv, Wound 19 in Beit Shemesh; Houthi Drone Intercepted Over Eilat  

Iranian Strikes Kill One in Tel Aviv, Wound 19 in Beit Shemesh; Houthi Drone Intercepted Over Eilat  

By The Media Line Staff  

Iranian missile and drone attacks triggered sirens across Israel on Friday night and Saturday, killing one man in Ashdod, wounding 19 people by shrapnel in Beit Shemesh, and prompting a drone interception near Eilat.  

In Ashdod, Viacheslav Vidment was killed in an Iranian cluster bomb strike. He had been finishing his shift as a security guard in a building that had been struck at an earlier point during the war.  

Tel Aviv District Police Commander Superintendent Haim Sargrof said at the scene: “The deceased is someone who works here in the area. He did not enter a protected space. I remind everyone, you must follow instructions and reach protected areas.”  

Separately, an Iranian cluster missile strike hit Tel Aviv, setting off sirens in central Israel.  

In Beit Shemesh, an Iranian missile strike damaged several homes and a synagogue. Magen David Adom reported 19 people were injured by shrapnel and several were treated for anxiety and trauma.   

In southern Israel, a drone was detected over Eilat and intercepted. It was launched by the Iran-backed Houthi group in Yemen, which had previously fired numerous rockets toward Israel during the war against Hamas before halting attacks after the ceasefire last October.  

The Houthis took credit for the attack as Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said in a post on X. “The Yemeni Armed Forces … have carried out the first military operation using a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting sensitive Israeli military sites,”   

This initial strike by the Houthis may indicate a new front opening in the war between the US and Israel against Iran after Hezbollah joined the fighting in early March following the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.