Israel: At least nine killed in Iranian missile strike on Beit Shemesh city

At least nine persons were killed in an Iranian missile strike on the city of Beit Shemesh in central Israel on Sunday, Al Jazeera reported.

The strike was part of retaliatory attacks launched by Iran a day after its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in joint strikes by the United States and Israel.

The Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency medical service, said that nine people were killed and 20 were injured by the strike, according to Al Jazeera. Two of those injured are in a serious condition.

The police was quoted as saying by AFP that the missile was a direct hit on a building.

Images from the site reportedly showed a house destroyed by the explosion, with its roof reduced to mangled concrete. This was the deadliest strike in Israel since the conflict with Iran began.

“I saw heavy structural damage, smoke in the air, and a great deal of chaos, with dozens of frightened casualties emerging from damaged buildings,” Yehuda Shlomo, a paramedic, was quoted as saying by AFP.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also claimed that four Iranian missiles targeted US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, NDTV reported. The US has not yet made a statement on the matter.

Israel and the US launched the joint strikes targeting the Iranian regime on Saturday, and claimed that they did so to remove “existential threats to Israel”. Iran retaliated to the attacks and said that the US-Israeli operation had begun while the nuclear negotiations were on.

Israel has been claiming that Iran is “closer than ever” to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance. Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

US says three service members killed

The US Central Command said that as of the morning of March 1, three of its service members were killed in action and five were seriously injured in the military operation targeting the Iranian regime.

It added that several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions and were in the process of being returned to duty.

“The situation is fluid, so out of respect for the families, we will withhold additional information, including the identities of our fallen warriors, until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified,” the central command said in a social media post.