Drone Attack Damages Israeli Naval Base in Eilat

By Yoni Weiss

An Israeli naval base in Eilat suffered light damage from a drone attack overnight Sunday. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) originated from Iraq and entered Israeli airspace via Jordan. Sirens rang out in the town at around 1:30 a.m.

The IDF reported that soldiers detected a suspicious aerial target crossing from the east into Israeli territory. The target ultimately fell in the vicinity of the Gulf of Eilat. B’chasdei Shamayim, there were no injuries, though a building sustained minor damage.

On Monday afternoon, the IDF confirmed the strike on the Eilat naval base and initiated an investigation into the incident. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, asserting they hit a “vital target” in Israel.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq is a coalition of Iranian-backed radical Shiite militias operating in Iraq and Syria, including groups like Kata’ib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhadaa. Described as a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps by Kurdish news website Rudaw, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has attempted previous attacks on Israeli territory.

In recent months, the group launched two drones from Syria into northern Israel in January, targeting Gaza in support of Hamas. Similarly, in December, Jordanian air defenses intercepted an armed drone fired by the group toward Eilat. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have also targeted Eilat with missile and drone attacks, primarily in support of Hamas, although many of these attacks were thwarted by Israeli, U.S., or Saudi forces, or missed their intended targets.