Sunday into Monday saw significant casualties in Israel, after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) claimed in a statement carried by state media that Iranian forces had targeted an oil refinery in Haifa.
But instead, it appears that the missile slammed directly into a residential building, killing at least four Israelis. Search and rescue teams have spent some 18 hours pouring through the ruins of the complex, recovering two bodies early Monday after an initial two had been found. The casualties could climb amid ongoing recovery efforts.
Authorities have said they are urgently investigating how Israel's air defenses, including the Iron Dome, failed to intercept the inbound ballistic missile. Local reports say the missile broke apart and changed trajectory, making interception much harder.
"Israel’s air defense forces attempted to intercept the missile on Sunday evening, according to the Israeli military," writes the NY Times. "At least part of the missile hit a terraced apartment building in the Vardiya neighborhood, on the upper slopes of Haifa’s iconic Mount Carmel, officials said."
Erez Geller, the director of Israel's ambulance service for the Haifa region, described that "Part of the building remained intact, and part had collapsed into a hollow." He added: "It looked like there had been an earthquake."
The 450-kilogram warhead (or nearly 1,000 pounds) partially collapsed the building when it impacted. By all accounts the death toll could have been much higher, given the warhead didn't actually explode as it ripped through the building:
The Fire and Rescue Service said early Monday that following hours of efforts alongside the Home Front Command, forces “rescued two trapped individuals found under the rubble without signs of life.” The two were a man and woman in their 80s.
A few hours later, it was announced that a third body — that of a man in his 40s — had been found underneath the wreckage of the building.
A short time after that, rescue forces said they had also recovered the body of a woman aged 35. The final body was recovered some 18 hours after the missile hit.
Four people were initially reported missing after the strike, first responders said late Sunday, adding that the building was at “serious” risk of collapse.
Another regional source stated that "Over 160 Israelis have been transferred to hospitals over the past 24 hours, Israel’s Health Ministry said on Monday."
Residents who were sheltered in the complex's bomb shelter were unharmed, however, it caught the other bystanders by surprise. "Neighbors described a huge bang and a mushroom cloud followed ten minutes later by a gas explosion," Times of Israel writes. "Smoke initially billowed from the ruins as emergency personnel worked carefully to remove the rubble."
Iranian cluster munitions have also continued to wreak havoc on central Israel and Tel Aviv. While Israel's military has been censoring much of the damage, the images that do make it out show widespread destruction and devastation.