Drone fired by Yemen's Houthis wounds 22 in southern Israel, in a rare
breach of missile defenses
[September 25, 2025]
By IBRAHIM HAZBOUN, SAMY MAGDY and JOSEPH KRAUSS
JERUSALEM (AP) — A drone launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels wounded 22
people in the southern Israeli city of Eilat on Wednesday, according to
medics. It was a rare breach of Israel's sophisticated missile defenses,
which have greatly limited casualties from such attacks.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 41 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire,
according to local hospitals. U.S. President Donald Trump's Mideast
envoy expressed optimism over a new plan for ending the war, without
saying what it entails or if Israel or Hamas have accepted it.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have regularly fired drones and
missiles at Israel — and attacked international shipping — in what they
say is support for the Palestinians. The vast majority of the drones and
missiles fired at Israel have been shot down or fallen in open areas
without wounding anyone.
The Houthis said in a statement that they had fired two drones at
Israel. Israel has carried out retaliatory airstrikes on Yemen after
past attacks, and Defense Minister Israel Katz, in a post on X, warned
the Houthis that “anyone who harms Israel will be harmed sevenfold.”
The Israeli military said it had tried to intercept the drone. The Magen
David Adom rescue service said the wounded were taken to a hospital, two
of them with “severe shrapnel injuries to their limbs.”
Israeli strikes on Gaza kill dozens
In Gaza, at least 22 people were killed when an Israeli strike hit tents
sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, according to Dr. Fadel Naim,
director of the Al-Ahli hospital, which received the casualties. Three
children and nine women were among those killed, he told The Associated
Press.
The Israeli military said it targeted two Hamas militants, using precise
munitions and taking other measures to avoid harming civilians. Israel
blames Hamas for civilian deaths because the militants are embedded in
densely populated areas.
Another Israeli strike hit a group of Palestinians in the built-up
Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least 12 of them,
according to the Al-Awda Hospital. Another 18 people were wounded, it
said. Four people — two children and their parents — were killed in a
strike on their home in Nuseirat, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs
Hospital in the nearby city of Deir al-Balah.
There was no immediate comment from the military on those strikes.
Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza said that it received the bodies of
three people killed by gunfire while seeking aid. Health officials in
Gaza and the U.N. human rights office say hundreds of people have been
killed by Israeli fire while seeking humanitarian aid in recent months.
The military has said it only fires warning shots when people approach
its forces in what it considers a threatening manner.
[to top of second column]
|
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, a 24-year-old Palestinian was shot
and killed by Israeli forces near the northern city of Jenin, according
to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The military said soldiers shot and
killed a man after he hurled an explosive device at them.
Trump officials talk up new plan to end the war
The latest violence came as the Mideast crisis was front and center at
the U.N. General Assembly.
At separate events, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s lead
negotiator Steve Witkoff both offered optimistic views about what
Witkoff called a “Trump 21-point plan for peace” that was presented to
Arab leaders on Tuesday.
“We had a very productive session,” Witkoff said at a conference in New
York. “I think it addresses Israeli concerns, as well as the concerns of
all the neighbors in the region. And we’re hopeful, and I might say even
confident, that in the coming days, we’ll be able to announce some sort
of breakthrough.”
Speaking to senior officials from the Gulf Cooperation Council, Rubio
said “some very important work is ongoing even as we speak, and we’re
hoping to achieve this as soon as possible.”
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, in a post on X, said the
latest proposals are “an important foundation upon which we can build
further in the coming period to achieve peace.”
The U.S., along with Egypt and Qatar, have spent months trying to broker
a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release. Those efforts suffered a major
setback earlier this month when Israel carried out an airstrike
targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on
Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.
Forty-eight captives are still inside Gaza, around 20 of them believed
by Israel to be alive, after most of the rest were freed in ceasefires
or other deals.
Israel's ongoing retaliatory offensive has killed more than 65,000
people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It doesn't say how many
were civilians or combatants, but says women and children make up around
half the fatalities. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government.
U.N. agencies and many independent experts consider its figures to be
the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.
Israel launched another major ground operation earlier this month in
Gaza City, which experts say is experiencing famine. More than 300,000
people have fled, but up to 700,000 are still there, many because they
can't afford to relocate.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo and Krauss from Ottawa, Ontario. Associated
Press writers Matthew Lee at the United Nations and Fay Abuelgasim in
Cairo contributed.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
