Jerusalem, March 1: At least nine people were killed after an Iranian missile struck a civilian neighbourhood in Beit Shemesh on Sunday, according to local media reports. The missile reportedly hit a residential area, destroying a synagogue and a public bomb shelter, while several nearby homes sustained extensive damage.
The The Times of Israel reported that emergency teams were deployed to the site to search for survivors amid the rubble. Beit Shemesh Mayor Shmuel Greenberg said authorities had been unable to contact around 20 residents but cautioned against drawing conclusions. “It could very well be that we’re not finding them, but we are doing everything we can,” he told reporters.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accused Iran of deliberately targeting civilians. In a statement posted on X, the military said the Iranian regime had fired missiles toward a civilian neighbourhood, contrasting it with what it described as Israel’s precision strikes against terror targets.
Earlier, the IDF announced that it had eliminated several senior Iranian leaders, including Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi, in strikes in Tehran. The military further claimed that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in a joint US-Israeli operation targeting a leadership compound in central Tehran.
Describing the operation as intelligence-led and precise, the IDF said the strike marked a significant moment in its broader campaign against what it termed the “Iranian terror axis.” Iranian authorities had not immediately issued a response to the claims at the time of reporting, and independent verification of the developments was not available.
