Six people were killed overnight (Saturday to Sunday) when a missile struck a residential area in the city of Bat Yam. Thirty-five individuals remain unaccounted for, with search and rescue operations ongoing at the scene.
Among those killed are an 8-year-old girl, a 10-year-old boy, a woman in her 60s, and another woman in her 80s. Dozens of local residents injured in the attack were evacuated to nearby hospitals, and Magen David Adom (MDA) has declared a mass casualty incident.
Meir Yehuda, a resident of the area, told Kan News: “There has never been such a boom. The walls of the shelter shook. As soon as I saw what happened, we waited two minutes to make sure everyone was okay. Then I went outside, started my motorcycle, and decided to go check it out.”
He continued: “First thing I saw was that the entire neighborhood had filled with smoke. I rode out, the road was covered in glass, window shutters, all kinds of debris. As I reached the site, I saw half a building had collapsed, completely shaved off, and was up in flames. The surrounding buildings were all affected.”
Yehuda also said that he assisted victims: “We know a lot of elderly people live in this area. We could hear people screaming ‘Help! Help!’ from the fifth and tenth floors. There was fire in the middle. We lifted people on our shoulders.”