At the scene of the deadly Iranian strike in Bat Yam this morning, families whose loved ones were missing waited for hours alongside the rubble, hoping to hear news about their relatives.
Rescue teams were hard at work, coordinating with them in an effort to advance the search. They asked for identifying details: who wears a ring that was found, who wears glasses, who was sleeping in which room. Despite the difficulty, there was an atmosphere of hope at the site—perhaps it is still possible to find life beneath the rubble.
As of Sunday afternoon, three people are still missing.
Oshrat Melyanchuk, a local resident, lives in a rental apartment a few hundred meters from the site of the impact. She described an enormous blast wave that destroyed her apartment.
“The boom sounded like it was inside the building,” she told Davar. “We ran to the shelter, but the blast hit while we were still going down the stairs. There was a crazy explosion, and a piece of the wall fell on us.”
She said that multiple windows were blown out and the living room was strewn with rubble. “It’s not certain we’ll have anywhere to stay,” she said. “I don’t know what we’ll do. It’s clear to me that some people lost everything and we’re okay, but how is this fit to live in? I have a five-and-a-half-year-old at home—we can’t be without windows.”
Melyanchuk said her landlady is trying to help as much as possible. In the meantime, her five-and-a-half-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter are staying at a friend’s house. “The kids are really anxious,” she said.
Alongside the rescue operations at the site of destruction, the extent of the severe damage in Bat Yam is becoming clear: six people were killed by the direct hit to a high-rise building in the city. Among the dead are a boy around 10, a girl aged 8, three women in their 50s, 60s, and 80s, and a young man aged 18.
More than 100 others were injured to varying degrees, and many nearby buildings were significantly damaged. Eyewitnesses report that dozens of civilians gathered near the site during the night—forcing police to spend hours cordoning off the impact zone.
At first light, control of the site was transferred to Home Front Command soldiers, who took over from the firefighting teams and began comprehensive searches.
“After the missile barrage, many calls were received at the emergency center reporting the hit on the building and destruction in many buildings nearby,” said Magen David Adom emergency medical technician Yosef Kurdi. “Large Magen David Adom forces arrived at the scene and are conducting broad searches in the area to locate casualties in the 14-story building that was struck and in buildings on the surrounding streets.”
Survivors who lost their homes were sent to the nearby Nahshonim School, where they waited for authorities to direct them to hotels.
“We’ve been here since 4 in the morning,” Anna Gavriyalov, a 17-and-a-half-year-old from Bat Yam, told Davar. “They said they’ll be transferring us to a hotel soon.”
In the meantime, residents are calling the authorities responsible for property damage, trying to get information about compensation.
Most of those at the site arrived without belongings. “They said there would be clothes there,” one resident told Davar.
Social workers from the Bat Yam municipality are providing emotional support and partial answers. To the recurring question—when will it be possible to return to the apartment and collect belongings—there is no answer. “It’s dangerous at the moment,” is the response.
Food distribution stations were set up at the site, along with a coffee corner, and volunteers handed out popsicles. Some of the children appeared visibly distressed.
“We were in the shelter, there was a boom, and everything went dark and dusty,” Gavriyalov recalled. “We went back up to the apartment and saw everything destroyed. I took the parrot and we went out to the street.”
Bat Yam Mayor Tzvika Brot said that the municipality had prepared in advance to provide hundreds of hotel rooms if needed. “At this stage we are continuing the search for trapped individuals,” he said. “At the same time, we’re sending in cleaning and maintenance teams to begin returning the ruined site on the street to normal. It will take a long time—but we’ll overcome and carry it out in the best possible way.”
According to the Welfare Ministry, a total of 742 Israelis across multiple cities have been left homeless as a result of the Iranian strikes.
