At least nine people have been killed after an Iranian missile strike on the central Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, as Tehran continues to launch retaliatory attacks a day after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli strikes.
The Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency service said on Sunday that nine people were killed and 28 other people were injured by the impact, including two who were in serious condition.
The Israeli military said in a statement that search-and-rescue teams and a helicopter to evacuate those injured are currently operating in Beit Shemesh, with the army’s spokesperson adding that the circumstances of the impact from the Iranian ballistic missile are under review.
Reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh explained that Sunday’s casualties are Israel’s “highest casualty count” since the attacks began on Saturday.
“What is worrying residents right now is that rescue workers are still working to rescue people trapped under the rubble, so there are concerns and fear that this count may rise. And there are questions as to why the sirens did not go off in Beit Shemesh,” Odeh said.
“This is one of the big risks that Israel is taking by initiating a war with Iran: missiles continuing to come to Israeli towns from Iran, and Israel having to fire all those missiles in response, with the risk of missing them like in Beit Shemesh and in Tel Aviv.”
On Saturday, Israel and the US launched ongoing attacks on Iran, leading to the killing of Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials.
As a 40-day mourning period was announced on Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera that the killing of Khamenei will “make the confrontation more complex and dangerous”.
“We have no restrictions or limits in defending ourselves,” Araghchi said.
“If their goal is to change our regime, this is an impossible task. They cannot do this: we have a solid system, and a strong consitution.”
Similarly, President Masoud Pezeshkian told a televised address on Sunday that, despite his death, the country would follow in Khamenei’s footsteps and Iran’s enemies would be left “hopeless”.
