A massive Iranian missile barrage struck a residential building and a public shelter in Beit Shemesh on Sunday afternoon, claiming nine lives Hy”d and injuring nearly thirty others.

At least nine people, Hy”d, were killed and nearly thirty others injured on Sunday afternoon when an Iranian ballistic missile scored a direct hit on a residential building and an adjacent public shelter in Beit Shemesh. The attack took place shortly before 2:00 p.m. Israel time, during a heavy barrage of missiles launched from Iran.

Mendy Rizel, a Chabad journalist reporting from the field, wrote that “the Beit Shemesh scene is the deadliest missile strike to date.”

Witnesses reported that several of the victims were inside the protected area when the missile struck the roof, completely destroying the shelter and causing extensive damage to surrounding buildings. According to Magen David Adom, among the twenty-eight injured was a ten-year-old girl in critical condition, two individuals in serious condition, and two in moderate condition, with the remainder sustaining light injuries.

Rescue teams flooded the area, with helicopters deployed to evacuate the wounded, as Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Yerushalayim declared a mass casualty incident. MDA EMT Yosef Laufer described the scene upon arrival: “We saw extensive damage and residents who had been rescued from the building. We provided medical treatment to several casualties, including a ten-year-old girl in serious condition, as well as a number of other injured individuals with varying degrees of injuries. MDA teams remain at the scene to continue treating additional casualties.”

A local resident described the chaos: “The shelter was completely demolished, and so were other homes throughout the area. It feels like a war zone — tens of meters are destroyed. I didn’t believe something like this could happen here.”

MDA paramedic Nati Ben Shimon said that upon arriving at the scene, teams encountered “extensive destruction, including several buildings that were severely damaged,” adding that a forward triage point was quickly established to evacuate the wounded in an orderly manner.

Chaim Weingarten, Deputy Director of Operations at ZAKA, who was present at the scene, said: “What we saw is a tragedy that cannot be described in words — people whose lives were cut short in a single moment of cruelty. Our volunteers, who are prepared for every scenario, are working here with deep reverence and selfless dedication to ensure dignified care for each of the victims.”

The IDF confirmed that the early warning sirens had functioned correctly prior to the impact, stating: “The early warning system functioned as planned and was activated in the Beit Shemesh area of impact. The circumstances of the impact are under review.” An investigation has been launched into why the missile was not intercepted by air defense systems. During the same barrage, a fifty-year-old man sustained moderate injuries from shrapnel in a moshav in central Israel.

Miraculously, the missile struck just one hundred meters from the local Chabad institutions in Beit Shemesh, which include a girls’ seminary, Chabad preschools, and a Chabad high school. The educational institutions were undamaged, and all students and staff were unharmed.