Nine Israelis were killed Sunday in a barrage of Iranian missiles, the deadliest single attack Israel has experienced since launching a strike against Iran on Saturday. The attacks focused heavily on the town of Beit Shemesh, where a direct hit on a public bomb shelter resulted in multiple fatalities, including three siblings.
Oren Katz, a father of four, was among those killed in Beit Shemesh. According to his wife, Samadi, Katz was attempting to close the reinforced door of the neighborhood shelter when the missile struck. “Even when you were in trouble, you would say give, and that giving cost you your life,” she said, as reported by the ynet news site. “You went upstairs to close the shelter and it took a heavy toll. I can’t digest it.”
The Biton family suffered the most significant loss, with siblings Yaakov, 16, Avigail, 15, and Sarah, 13, all killed when a missile struck a synagogue, collapsing the bomb shelter beneath it. They are survived by their parents and one sibling. Sixteen-year-old Gabriel Baruch Revah was also killed in the attack, according to Israeli media reports.
The force of the explosion destroyed the synagogue and severely damaged the shelter, despite its age. “Even with the remarkably severe impact that was here, and the price that was paid in this attack, the vast majority of people that were in the bomb shelter came out of it alive,” said Lt. Col. Oded Revivi, who led the search and rescue mission. He reported that over 30 people were inside the shelter at the time of the strike, with two fatalities and one injury among them, while seven others were killed outside the shelter.
The attack matched the deadliest single incident of the 12-day war with Iran last June, when a missile struck an apartment building in Bat Yam near Tel Aviv. In addition to the teenagers and Katz, Sara Elimelech and her daughter Ronit, and Bruria Cohen with her son Yossi, were also killed.
The attack on Beit Shemesh, a town approximately 30 minutes from Jerusalem, has instilled widespread fear among residents. Nissim Edri, a 71-year-old community leader, lost childhood friends in the strike. The morning after the attack, sirens disrupted funeral proceedings, forcing mourners to seek cover. Edri recounted nearly entering a shelter similar to the one destroyed, but freezing on the stairs, haunted by the previous day’s events. “I was afraid of going in, because my friends were killed in there yesterday,” he said. “[People] I’ve known since the days we came in to the world. We grew up together here.”
Despite the damage to the Beit Shemesh shelter, Revivi urged Israelis to continue using shelters, acknowledging that no shelter can guarantee complete protection. “This specific bomb shelter was built over 50 years ago, which means We see not modern standards, it is not the most protected surroundings that we have,” he stated.
David Azulai described how his family was protected by a safe room built into their home, located just meters from the impact site. “The explosion was huge, it shook our shelter, and when we came out this is what we found,” he said, gesturing to the collapsed roof and shattered windows. His car was also destroyed in the blast.
Beit Shemesh had previously experienced limited direct impact from regional conflicts. A rocket landed in an open area during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, with only fragments causing minor damage. The town was also untouched during Israel’s war with Iran last summer. Israel’s aerial defense system has largely been successful in intercepting Iranian missiles and drones, but the strike in Beit Shemesh demonstrates the potential for devastating consequences when projectiles penetrate the defensive network.
