Just moments before a ceasefire was set to take effect, a deadly strike claimed four lives in Beersheba on Tuesday morning when a missile launched from Iran struck a seven-story residential building.
In addition to the five fatalities, 20 people were injured. Two sustained moderate injuries while the rest were lightly hurt.
Three survivors were rescued from the reinforced security room (known in Israel as a "mamad") on the fourth floor, where they had been trapped beneath the rubble. As of now, there are no further reports of people unaccounted for.
Among the dead were a woman and a man in their 40s, a man in his early 20s, and a fourth individual whose identity has not yet been confirmed.
Magen David Adom paramedic Dvir Ben Ze'ev, who was at the scene in southern Israel, described the devastation: "We responded with a large team that included intensive care units, ambulances, rapid response vehicles, and motorcycles. We saw massive destruction along the street where the missile hit. At the entrance to one building, an unconscious man was lying on the ground. After searching further, we found two more victims — a man and a woman — also unconscious. We performed medical examinations, but sadly there was nothing we could do except pronounce them dead."
Additional Magen David Adom teams continued treating around eight other casualties, including two in moderate condition and six lightly wounded.
