A direct missile hit in the heart of Tel Aviv left four people lightly injured on Tuesday morning following a launch from Iran. The alert was the sixth since midnight in connection with Iranian strikes, coming after nearly 12 consecutive hours without fire the previous night.
Dina, a resident who lives nearby, described the moment: "I was in the mamad (safe room) and heard a massive explosion – it was incredibly loud. I waited a few minutes and went outside. It looked like a place after a disaster. A car here had been thrown by the missile's blast wave. There was fire and clouds of dust. I still can't believe no one died here. My whole body is still shivering. I look at the damage around me and just can't believe it."
Tel Aviv District Police Commander Maj. Gen. Haim Sargerov spoke at the scene: "There is extensive damage here, and quite a few secondary sites with a number of lightly injured. All sites are being treated, and secondary searches are underway. We have not received any report of people trapped, but we need to check and search. We're going house by house. This is a strike from a missile of approximately 100 kilograms (220 lbs)."
Chief Superintendent Yaniv Padida, head of the explosives laboratory, reported from the scene: "We identified very significant damage to buildings near the impact point, while structures at a slightly greater distance were nearly unaffected – windows were not even broken. Analysis of the findings indicates that this was a single-combat warhead weighing approximately 100 kilograms [220 lbs]. Several lightly injured were evacuated from the scene, but no significant casualties were recorded – thanks primarily to civilian discipline. Adhering to the rules and entering protected spaces were critical at this site, as no protected space was breached. Explosives forces are continuing searches in the field to locate additional fragments."
Contributing reporters: Maytal Yasur Beit-Or and Yaron Doron.
