Footage released from Tel Aviv captures a particularly dramatic moment of a strike occurring just meters from a moving vehicle near Habima Square.
In the video, the car is seen in motion before stopping at a crosswalk, when an impact occurs just centimeters away from it.
Shlomo Akkad, the driver of the vehicle, who is currently hospitalized at Ichilov Hospital, recounted the horrific moments in the car to Channel 12: "This explosion terrified me. Suddenly, there was a great blast, and blocks flew at me from the ground."
He described how he found himself covered in dirt after all the car windows shattered, "I found myself fool of dirt, all the windows shattered on me, the door, everything. There was a ton of smoke, and I was really scared. Because I was covered in dirt, I really thought that I might be dead."
Akkad, who is suffering from a head injury and pain, admitted that he remained in the vehicle after hearing the siren and did not leave to find shelter as prescribed by the Home Front Command guidelines. "I looked, and I saw the explosion site a meter from the car. I thanked G-d at that moment. He didn't want me to die."
Despite the trauma and the injuries, Akkad chose to conclude his remarks with a message of outward resiliance, "Maybe this is a message to our enemies - you can't defeat us. No matter what you throw and no matter what you do, you will not defeat the people of Israel."
At the same time, several impact sites were reported across Tel Aviv and central Israel following the latest launch from Iran. Emergency teams operated at multiple scenes, providing medical treatment to the injured.
Paramedics and EMTs from Magen David Adom evacuated 15 injured people to Beilinson Hospital and Ichilov Hospital. Among them was a 53-year-old man in serious condition suffering from blast injuries, three others in moderate condition, and the rest with light injuries.
In addition to the main impact site, police and bomb disposal units are operating at several other locations in central Israel where shrapnel and interceptor fragments were found, causing damage.
MDA emergency medic Yitzhak Reichman said: “We arrived at a man in his 40s who was injured by missile shrapnel. He had injuries to his leg and back and was frightened. We provided medical treatment including bandaging and stopping bleeding, and we are continuing to scan the areas to ensure there are no additional casualties. When a siren sounds, it is important to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command and enter a protected space-it saves lives."