Two Israeli citizens were killed, and many others were injured in the city of Rishon Lezion after Iran retaliated against the airstrikes targeting its nuclear facilities and personnel.
Barrages of ballistic missiles were launched, targeting the Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, and Rishon Lezion regions in central Israel. Civilian neighbourhoods were struck by Iranian projectiles that managed to bypass the Iron Dome and other air defense systems Israel had deployed to thwart the strikes. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the lion's share of Iranian missiles was neutralized, but a few managed to get through and strike locations in the heart of the country.
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Meanwhile, videos shared online by Israeli citizens and images captured by drones showed the damage suffered by Rishon Lezion in the attack. It showed several residential buildings either completely levelled or partially reduced to shells at the centre of a densely built block. Rubble lay scattered across blackened, smoke-stained bylanes, while numerous vehicles were found overturned or reduced to twisted wreckage. The roofs and ceilings of many buildings had been torn away, exposing the interiors to the open sky.
A family was rescued from the rubble by fire and rescue units hours after the strike while a three-year-old infant miraculously survived the blasts, Times Of Israel said in a report. The Rishon Lezion victims were identified as a septuagenarian man and a woman in her forties.
Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday after Tehran was terrorised was repeated air raids by the IAF. The IDF said more drones were intercepted near the Dead Sea early Saturday.
A hospital in Tel Aviv treated seven people wounded in the second Iranian barrage; all but one of them had light injuries. Israel's Fire and Rescue Services said they were wounded when a projectile hit a building in the city. A spokesperson for Beilinson Hospital said one woman was killed.
