Rescuers say at least 20 people have been injured in southern Israel after the Israeli military said a drone was launched from Yemen.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the drone struck the resort town of Eilat on the Red Sea coast, with attempts made to intercept it.

The Magen David Adom emergency medical service said 20 people were taken to Yoseftal Hospital – including two men with serious limb injuries.

The Iranian-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for the strike following the attack.

A spokesman for the group, Yahya Sarea, said two drones targeted two “Israeli enemy targets” in a “successful” operation.

Israeli TV stations broadcast live footage of the drone strike and the area it hit, which showed billowing smoke rising from the site.

Footage posted on social media, verified by the BBC, shows a drone in the sky disappearing out of view as it flies down behind buildings. A few moments later, birds scatter as they fly up into the sky.

“IDF troops, alongside the Israel Police, were dispatched to the area of Eilat after receiving a report of a UAV attack,” the IDF said in a statement.

It added troops and the police were assisting in evacuating the area and a helicopter had been deployed to evacuate the wounded from the scene.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said: “Wishing a full recovery to those injured in the UAV strike in Eilat.

“The Houthi terrorists refuse to learn from Iran, Lebanon and Gaza – and will learn the hard way.

“Anyone who harms Israel will be harmed sevenfold.”

The army earlier said air raid sirens had rung through the town.

The attack is one of the most serious launched by the Houthis in terms of casualties.

In July 2024, one person was killed and 10 injured in a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv when a drone hit an apartment building near the US embassy branch office.

Eilat, popular with tourists, has been the location of other recent drone attacks, with one striking the town’s hotel area last week, according to Israeli authorities. No casualties were reported.

Earlier in September, one person was wounded when a Houthi drone hit Ramon Airport, just north of Eilat.

The rebel Houthi group has been launching missiles and drones towards Israel as part of what it describes as acts of solidarity with the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The Houthis have also been attacking vessels in the Red Sea since the start of the war in Gaza.

The group, which considers Israel its enemy, controls Sanaa and the north-west of Yemen, but is not the country’s internationally recognised government.

Israel has retaliated by bombing Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, including the Red Sea port of Hudaydah.

Earlier in September, the Houthi-run health ministry said 35 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Sanaa and al-Jawf province.

And in August, the group said its self-proclaimed Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi was killed in an Israeli air strike.