Tel Aviv: Two persons were killed in an Iranian missile barrage near Israel’s commercial center of Tel Aviv on Wednesday, according to medics, while the national railway halted services after shrapnel struck a key station.
The assault targeted various locations in central Israel overnight, setting off widespread air raid sirens following intense Israeli airstrikes on Iran and Lebanon earlier. These latest fatalities bring the total Israeli deaths from missile attacks since the Middle East conflict ignited late last month to 14.
Police spokesman Dean Elsdunne detailed the initial findings in Ramat Gan, a suburb east of Tel Aviv, where a cluster bomb demolished part of a home. Cluster munitions, which Iran and Israel have previously accused each other of using, explode in mid-air and scatter bomblets across a wide area. “The munition ‘collapsed the roof in on an elderly couple that were in their room. Unfortunately, this couple did not go to the safe room when the alarm sounded, and as a result, we have this unfortunate tragedy,'” Elsdunne said.
AFP footage revealed emergency responders, police, and soldiers navigating streets littered with debris. Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency service, confirmed discovering the two bodies amid the wreckage. “We saw smoke rising from a building with extensive damage and shattered glass,” the service stated. Separately in Bnei Brak, another Tel Aviv suburb, a man sustained minor shrapnel wounds.
Magen David Adom images depicted fires engulfing cars, mangled vehicles, and heaps of rubble across sites. Police reported bomb disposal units tackling munition remnants in the Tel Aviv district.
The national railway company announced a nationwide suspension after shrapnel hit platforms at Tel Aviv’s central station, with no injuries there. Military video showed Home Front Command personnel inspecting broken glass and scarred train carriages.
Home Front Command teams launched searches at several central Israel impact zones. Israel’s military detected two additional Iranian missile salvos afterward, sounding alerts in central and southern areas but reporting no fresh hits.
