West Midlands Police has defended keeping silent over the significant hooliganism among Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, which it now confirms is the reason they were banned from attending the Europa League clash with Aston Villa. More than 700 officers from 20 police forces were deployed near Villa Park on Thursday, where hundreds took part in demonstrations over the controversial decision. When it emerged in October that fans of the Israeli club would not be welcome, senior MPs, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, said it amounted to antisemitism. Jack Angelides, CEO of Maccabi Tel Aviv, told the BBC their fans being banned meant it was time for some introspection and retrospection. Chief Constable Craig Guildford has been asked to appear before The Home Affairs Committee to explain the reasoning behind the ban, by Birmingham's Safety Advisory Group.

Warnings of disruption and protests have come from police as more than 700 officers prepare to mount an operation in Birmingham for Aston Villa's Uefa Europa League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Officers will be keeping the public safe and to tackle any crime and disorder on Thursday, West Midlands Police said, with police horses, dogs, the force's drone unit, and road policing officers out in the city. Planned protests include one by supporters of Palestine, who want the match to be called off. Last month, a decision to ban Tel Aviv fans from the event became the focus of parliamentary-level debate . The Israeli club later said supporters would not travel to Birmingham for safety reasons.

Here in northern Israel we hear booms at regular intervals as Iron Dome intercept rockets that Hezbollah fires from southern Lebanon. Israel says it hits more than 90% of its targets. But Iron Dome works because Hezbollah's rockets are crude – and it's possible to calculate where it's rockets will go at take-off and then intercept them. Stopping drones is more complicated. And has in this war become a recurring problem.

Israeli military personnel may have also missed the drone simply because of human error and "contributed to the Houthis achieving a lucky shot," said Fabian Hinz, an expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. Residents said the sound of the blast had awakened them in the predawn hours. Yochai Afek, 35, said he had looked out his bedroom window to see his car in flames. Thinking that an air-conditioner had fallen on his vehicle, he and his wife ran outside with a fire extinguisher and a hose, and were surprised to find a large crowd outside at 3 a.m. "We didn't understand why the whole neighborhood came out to the streets because of a fallen AC unit," Mr. Afek said.

Israel's defense minister struck an ominous tone Friday after an Iranian-made drone fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen struck Tel Aviv, telling Israeli media that Jerusalem would "settle the score." "I held an operational situation assessment this morning to review the steps required to strengthen our defense arrays in light of events overnight, as well as the intelligence and operational activities required against those responsible for the attack," Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said in a statement. "The year 2024 is marked by war. We must be prepared for every scenario and every arena." Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant sits with defense officials after a Yemen-based Houthi drone strike on Tel Aviv July 19, 2024.

Yemen's Houthi group has claimed responsibility for the drone that struck overnight in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing one person and injuring eight. Israeli media identified the dead man as 50-year-old Yevgeny Ferder, who had moved to Israel from Belarus at the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war. Last night's strike is unique -- it's the first time the group is known to have hit Tel Aviv, though the Houthi have waged a continued campaign against targets they claim are linked to Israel since the ongoing devastating war on Gaza broke out in October. The drone struck in central Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday morning. The site itself is thought to be close to a number of hotels, many hosting those displaced from Israel's northern border with Lebanon. A US embassy office is also close to the site of the attack.

First responders are on scene in Tel Aviv after a large explosion rocked the city in the middle of the night. The blast happened approximately one block from a U.S. embassy branch office. An explosion that rocked Tel Aviv overnight Thursday has left one person dead and several others wounded. Military officials say they believe the source of the explosion was a deadly drone attack, and Yemen's Houthi rebels have already claimed responsibility for a drone strike in the area near the U.S. embassy, the Associated Press reported. The drone was not intercepted despite it being identified prior to the explosion due to human error.

Videos show the moment a drone struck a building in Israel's Tel Aviv, killing one person and injuring several more. Yemen's Houthis say they were behind the attack.

Yemen's Houthi fighters have claimed responsibility following a suspected drone attack on Israel's Tel Aviv, which killed one person and injured at least 10, according to reports. A spokesperson for the Houthi armed forces said in a post on social media on Friday that the Yemen-based group had "targeted'Tel Aviv' in occupied Palestine". The Israeli military said it had opened an investigation into the large explosion near the United States Embassy office in the city and would determine why the country's air defence systems were not activated to intercept the "aerial target". Israel's air force has increased patrols to "protect the country's skies", the military added in a post on social media. Israeli police said the body of a man was found in an apartment close to the explosion and that the circumstances were being investigated.

The Israeli military says it is investigating an apparent drone attack that hit central Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday. In a statement it said an initial inquiry indicated the explosion had been caused by the falling of an "aerial target" and announced it was increasing air patrols. Israeli emergency services say the explosion left one person dead and several lightly injured. Yemen's Houthi militants, which are backed by Iran, announced on social media that they would reveal details about a military operation that had targeted Tel Aviv. The incident also came after the Israeli military confirmed it had killed a senior commander of the Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon.