At least nine people were killed and 51 wounded Sunday when an Iranian missile made a direct hit on a residential shelter in Beit Shemesh, marking the deadliest single incident since the start of Operation Roaring Lion.
Police said 11 people are currently listed as unaccounted for at the scene, as search and rescue teams continue combing through the rubble to rule out additional victims.
Footage of the direct hit in Beit Shemesh
According to emergency officials, four of those killed were likely inside the shelter when its roof collapsed. Others were in adjacent homes. Of the wounded, two are in serious condition and four in moderate condition, with the remainder lightly injured. Many of the injured were evacuated to hospitals in Jerusalem and central Israel.
Drone footage from the scene
The blast and shockwave almost completely destroyed eight homes in the residential compound.
Magen David Adom said the wounded were taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem, Hadassah Mount Scopus, Shaare Zedek and Shamir Assaf Harofeh hospitals. Hadassah Medical Center Director Yoram Weiss said 16 lightly wounded patients were admitted to Hadassah Mount Scopus, while 13 were taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem, including three children. One adult woman was listed in serious but stable condition.
Witnesses described a powerful explosion during a barrage that triggered continuous air raid sirens across large parts of the country for more than 15 minutes, from the northern border to south of Beersheba.
Lydia Lazutin, who was lightly injured, said she did not have time to reach a protected space before the impact. “There was a siren and we didn’t manage to get downstairs. The missile hit immediately. All the windows and shutters flew off,” she said outside Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
Magen David Adom paramedic Nati Ben Shimon said rescue teams encountered extensive destruction. “Some of the injured were trapped in apartments and brought to us by rescue forces. The scene was difficult,” he said.
Jerusalem District fire crews, Home Front Command units and specialized rescue teams, including senior commanders, were deployed to the site. Energy sources in the area were disconnected as part of the emergency response.
IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani accused the Iranian regime of deliberately targeting civilians. “Since the beginning of Operation Rising Lion, the Iranian regime has targeted civilians. We know this is their strategy. In their last attack, they killed many civilians in the town of Beit Shemesh,” he said.
The IDF said preliminary findings indicate that early warning alerts functioned properly in Beit Shemesh and that the circumstances of the impact are under investigation.
Elsewhere during the same barrage, a man in his 50s was moderately wounded by shrapnel in the Sharon region, and damage was reported to a building near Jerusalem. In central Israel, the roof of a school was damaged. Police said officers and bomb disposal experts also located and neutralized the warhead of an Iranian missile that landed in an open area a few hundred meters from holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Air raid sirens sounded across wide areas, including Tel Aviv, Bat Yam, Jerusalem, Ashdod, Beersheba, the western Negev, the Jordan Valley, the Galilee, the Golan Heights and the Haifa region. In some areas, residents were instructed to remain in shelters until further notice.
The Home Front Command also reported a suspected drone infiltration in the Jerusalem and Dead Sea areas. After a pursuit lasting more than 10 minutes, the military said the drone was intercepted.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force said it struck two Iranian fighter jets, an F-5 and an F-4, that were prepared for takeoff at an airport in Tabriz in western Iran. The strike was intended to disrupt Iranian Air Force operations and deepen damage to the regime’s air defense systems, the military said.
Police Commissioner Danny Levy, speaking at the scene in Beit Shemesh, said explosives experts were working to determine the size of the missile and the type of warhead used. “This is a very complex and difficult scene. We will likely be working here through the night,” he said.