Washington in 'close contact' with Israel after Tel Aviv drone strike near US embassy

Overnight attack hit a residential building in area where several diplomatic missions are located

Yemen's Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for the Tel Aviv attack that killed one person and wounded 10. Bloomberg

The State Department said on Friday that it was in “close contact” with Israeli authorities after a drone strike in Tel Aviv near a US embassy branch office.

“There was no damage to the US embassy branch office building,” a State Department representative told The National.

“We have no reports of injuries of US personnel or our locally engaged staff.”

The representative added that the US was co-ordinating with Israel “to fully investigate” the incident.

The overnight attack hit a residential building in an area where several diplomatic missions are located. It did not trigger the city's air raid siren system.

Yemen's Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed one person and wounded 10.

A spokesman for the group said that the attack had involved the use of a new drone capable of bypassing Israeli interception systems, making it undetectable by radar.

The Houthis are allied with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and have been carrying out attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea to show support for the Palestinian militant group's fight against Israel.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant by phone following the strike and expressed his condolences to the victims.

He also “reaffirmed the United States' ironclad commitment to Israel's security and Israel's right to self-defence”, a readout of the call said.

Mr Gallant said after the attack that Israel would “settle the score”.

“The year 2024 is marked by war,” he said. “We must be prepared for every scenario and every arena.”