The death toll from an Iranian missile strike on a residential building in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem, has risen to nine. Earlier reports said eight people had been killed.
According to Israel’s national emergency medical service, more than 50 others were injured and hospitalized. Two of the wounded are in serious condition.
The missile hit a residential building next to a synagogue where people had been sheltering at the moment of impact.
Large forces from the Home Front Command, medical teams, firefighters, and rescue units were deployed to the scene. Some victims had to be pulled from beneath the rubble of the destroyed building, and several residents were evacuated from damaged apartments.
The injured were taken to hospitals. Intensive-care ambulances and additional emergency vehicles were deployed on a nearby highway close to the impact site.
The strike occurred during a prolonged barrage. Air-raid sirens sounded continuously for more than fifteen minutes — from the country’s northern border to Be’er Sheva and further south.
The Israel Defense Forces said an initial inspection showed that the early-warning systems functioned properly. Alerts were sent in advance and sirens in the impact area activated as expected. The circumstances of the missile’s penetration are under investigation.
