More than 30 people were wounded on Saturday evening in an Iranian missile strike on the city of Dimona in southern Israel, which houses a nuclear research facility, emergency services said in a new toll.
AFP images from the scene of the impact show a partly destroyed house, where rescuers, bomb disposal experts, and army sappers are working. Around a large crater in the ground, the earth is turned over and the facades of the surrounding buildings have been largely destroyed.
The two closest buildings were blown up and collapsed on themselves. Debris of all kinds, severed trees, and blocks of concrete litter the site, resembling a battlefield.
Prompted by images circulating on social media showing a fireball crashing to the ground, the Israeli army confirmed to AFP that it was a “direct missile impact on a building” in Dimona, located in the Negev desert.
The Magen David Adom (MDA) teams, the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross, reported treating “a boy of about ten in serious condition (…) suffering from shrapnel wounds” as well as “a woman about 30 years old (…) suffering from glass shrapnel wounds.”
They also evacuated “31 slightly injured patients” with shrapnel wounds who were heading to a shelter, along with 14 people exhibiting symptoms of anxiety.
The struck site is located in a residential area of Dimona, near five kilometers from the nuclear research center to the southeast of the city.
– “Resilience” –
The army stated in a release that “interception attempts were made” unsuccessfully before the impact, and that the causes “will be examined.”
Dimona is home to the Negev Shimon Peres Nuclear Research Center, a nuclear facility for research purposes that, according to foreign press reports, has been involved in the production of nuclear weapons in recent decades.
Little information is known about the Dimona nuclear site. Israel maintains a “strategic ambiguity” policy, neither confirming nor denying the possession of nuclear weapons.
Iran claimed responsibility for the missile strike on Saturday, stating that it was a “response” to the “enemy” attack on the Natanz nuclear complex in the center that was reported earlier by Tehran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with the Mayor of Dimona in the evening, stating that he “saluted the resilience of the residents and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded” while emphasizing the importance of taking shelter during anti-aircraft alerts.
Shortly after the strike, Israel also reported a missile fired towards the Eilat region located about 200 kilometers south of Dimona.
Published on March 21 at 9:17 pm, AFP
