Daijiworld Media Network - Beit Shemesh
Beit Shemesh, Mar 2: Iran launched a missile attack on the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh on Sunday, March 1, 2026, killing at least nine people and causing extensive damage to residential areas, according to Israeli authorities.
Local media reports said the missile struck a residential neighbourhood, destroying a synagogue and a public bomb shelter, while several nearby houses were severely damaged. Before-and-after images from the site have surfaced, highlighting the scale of destruction. Videos circulating online also show the impact of the strike.
Beit Shemesh Mayor Shmuel Greenberg said that around 20 residents were initially unreachable following the attack. “This doesn’t mean anything has happened to them. We may not be able to find them, but we are making every effort,” he said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that it “precisely targets terrorist targets,” accusing Iran of deliberately targeting civilians as a tactic of war.
Earlier, the IDF claimed that Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Abdolrahim Mousavi, along with seven other senior security officials, was killed in an Israeli strike in Tehran. The Israeli military also asserted that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an attack on a leadership compound in the Iranian capital.
According to Israeli officials, the operations were conducted based on what they described as accurate intelligence and form part of a broader strategy aimed at dismantling key figures linked to what Israel terms the “Iranian terrorist axis.”
The situation remains tense as hostilities between the two nations continue to escalate.