Two people were killed and more than 60 injured early Saturday when an Iranian missile struck the central Israeli cities of Rishon Lezion and Ramat Gan, amid escalating regional hostilities. The IDF confirmed the fatalities and said a technical failure prevented the Home Front Command from issuing an early warning before the strike in Rishon Lezion.
One of the victims, 73-year-old Israel Aloni, was killed outside a shelter in Rishon Lezion when a missile landed between two residential buildings. Although air raid sirens sounded moments before impact, the lack of an advance alert meant residents had little time to seek cover. The IDF later said the warning system malfunction was identified and corrected. The IDF also confirmed that seven soldiers were lightly wounded by a missile strike elsewhere in central Israel during the night.
The impact site of an Iranian ballistic missile in Rishon Lezion
(Video: Mickey Schmidt, Meir Turgeman, Magen David Adom, Rishon Lezion Municipality )
In Ramat Gan, 74-year-old Etti Cohen Angel, a mother of four, was killed in a separate strike. “She was a smiling, beautiful, kind woman,” her daughter, Nurit Cohen-Elstein, said. Cohen Angel’s partner was also wounded in the blast and remains sedated and on a ventilator at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv.
The direct hit in Rishon Lezion caused extensive damage, destroying cars and injuring at least 20 others in addition to Aloni’s death. Fire and rescue officials described scenes of devastation. Battalion Chief Idan Chen said teams pulled a baby from the rubble. “It’s a great miracle,” he said.
Police officer Aviv Saranga, who rescued the infant, recounted that the baby had been trapped with her parents under debris. “I held the baby for a while. We rescued the parents and returned her to them,” she said. “They needed medical treatment. I kept the baby in my arms until it was over. I didn’t plan this, but it’s why I joined the force. I feel like I’m saving lives.”
Aloni’s son, Eran Aloni, recalled the harrowing night in an interview with Ynet, describing the moments that led to his father’s death.
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Police officer Aviv Saranga holds a baby pulled out of the rubble
(Photo: Dvir Moore)
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The impact site of an Iranian ballistic missile in Rishon Lezion
(Photo: Rishon Lezion Municipality)
“Sirens went off last night, and my father was alone in his home. It’s an old house—he didn’t have a reinforced shelter, just a sort of underground room,” Aloni said. “He was below ground but not in a proper shelter. The blast wave hit him hard. The front door of the house was blown right onto him.”
According to Aloni, the explosion devastated the property. “The entire house collapsed, total loss—his car too, everything outside,” he said. “This morning at 7:30, the social services from Rishon Lezion municipality called and told us he’d been injured and was in the hospital. By the time we arrived at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, he was no longer alive. His body was full of shrapnel.”
“We are in the middle of this war,” he added. “My daughter is on her pre-army trip abroad and can’t get back—there are no flights. It’s all happening at once. This is a very difficult time. We hope for better days. We’re three siblings, and we’re strong, but we need time to process this. We’re now arranging the funeral.”
Describing his father, Aloni said, “He was a very healthy man, loved life and was a great grandfather to 11 grandchildren.” Regarding the failed early warning, he said, “There was no alert—my father didn’t have time, and this is the result.” He added that the family had spoken with him the previous night. “We didn’t talk to him this morning. We were supposed to all meet today as a family. That will never happen again.”
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Michel Siboni, whose private home in Rishon Lezion was hit, returned in the morning to collect clothes and personal belongings. “I was in the shelter, and when I came out and saw the mess—it was chaos,” he told Ynet. “The house is completely destroyed. We’re evacuating to my daughter’s home.”
In Ramat Gan, the damage was similarly severe, with multiple homes and cars destroyed. Ronit, whose home was demolished in the blast, said she is now staying at a municipal emergency shelter. “There was a boom and everyone started screaming,” she said. “My partner was thrown several meters by the blast. We ran to the shelter, and on the stairs we saw a trail of fire chasing us. Everything turned black and smoky—we couldn’t see anything.”
Ruti, who lives near Ronit, said that in the immediate aftermath of the explosion, she tried to alert rescue teams to a neighbor who never goes to the shelter during sirens and might have been trapped. “The roof collapsed on him and he was injured,” she said. “I saw a gas canister spraying a strong stream—I was terrified everything would ignite. I screamed at the firefighters.”
Sarah Vino Elad, who had moved into her new apartment just two weeks earlier, recounted the emotional toll. “I’m trying to stay in good spirits, but this is hard,” she said. “Just yesterday, I laid out a new rug. By night, it was already burned. Luckily, I wasn’t inside at the time, but when I got there, I saw how massive the damage was.”