Iran missiles cause casualties in Israel as IDF warns Iranians to leave areas near military sites – follow live

Lucy Williamson
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Bat Yam

A bright orange knot of rescue workers slowly scraped into the rubble at the foot of the tower block in Bat Yam when we arrived, at one point calling for a stretcher as they searched for several people still missing from the apartments hit last night.

Around it, residential buildings in the blast zone slowly shedded masonry, shutters and balconies into the debris around them.

On a bench outside, we met Katya, surrounded by suitcases of clothes she’d salvaged from her apartment next to the tower block.

Her mother was in hospital, she said, with stitches in both arms after the impact. “I’m traumatised,” she said.

“We’ve been here 24 years and now we have to start over. I’m holding myself back from crying.”

Outside another building, Ilan told me he had come to check on the tenants he rented to there, his support for Israel’s war with Iran undented by the destruction of his property.

“If you send 300 missiles and kill 10 people, how many can 1,000 missiles kill? A hundred people dead for Iran, to be erased and finish the problem? For me, it’s worth it,” he told me.

“The world has to cheer for us, clap their hands and say thank you to Israel for our courage and for our wisdom and everything – and not condemn Israel all the time for the Palestinians and everything.”

You can see more from Lucy, who is in Bat Yam, in her report from the scene of the strike below.