Rescue teams race to find survivors after night of Iranian missile strikes

Israeli rescue workers across the country were still racing to find survivors after a night of missile strikes from Iran. Ten people were killed with most urgent scenes of destruction in the Haifa and Tel Aviv metro areas and the Arab town of Tamra.

In the coastal town of Bat Yam, a residential building was directly hit, killing six people and injuring dozens more. Emergency crews worked through the night and into the morning, combing the rubble for 18 people still unaccounted for. The dead included a woman in her 60s, a man in his 70s, a woman in her 50s, a teenage boy, and two children aged 10 and 8.

In the northern town of Tamra, rescue teams confirmed that four people were killed when a missile hit their two-story home. The victims were identified as Manar Khatib, her daughters Hala (20) and Shada (13), and a relative, Manal Khatib. Eleven others were injured in the strike.

President Isaac Herzog responded to the tragedy in a statement posted Sunday morning: “Our sisters and brothers were murdered and injured last night by criminal Iranian attacks against the civilian population in Bat Yam, Tamra and other communities. Jews and Arabs, veteran citizens and new immigrants, including children and the elderly, women and men.”

Israel launched preemptive strikes against Iranian nuclear sites on Friday, citing intelligence that Tehran had reached “a point of no return” in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. According to Israeli defence officials, Iran has developed the capacity to rapidly enrich uranium and assemble nuclear bombs, with sufficient fissile material for up to 15 weapons.

Israeli intelligence also exposed a covert program to complete all components of a nuclear device. The strikes mark a dramatic escalation in what officials describe as a broader Iranian strategy combining nuclear development, missile proliferation, and proxy warfare aimed at Israel’s destruction.