Sanaa, July 19 (IANS): Yemen's Houthi group said it launched a drone attack on Friday morning toward a vital target in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, the group's military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a televised statement.

"The operation was carried out with a new drone called Yaffa, capable of bypassing enemy interception systems and successfully it hit the target," he said in the statement, which was aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

"We declare Tel Aviv an unsafe area and it will be a primary target for our weapons," he noted, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to Israeli reports, a long-range drone exploded in central Tel Aviv early Friday, killing a man and injuring at least ten others. No air raid sirens were activated during the attack.

Israel Defence Forces' spokesman Daniel Hagari said the military was still investigating why the aerial defence systems did not intercept the aircraft or trigger air raid sirens.