At least 23 wounded by Iranian missile in Haifa; woman dies of heart attack in Karmiel
Three in Haifa, including a teenager, seriously injured; footage indicates Iran shot cluster bomb at Beersheba, daycare hit but no injuries reported from impacts in center, south
Iran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel on Friday afternoon, setting off alarms across the country and sending some 10 million people running to bomb shelters. One woman had a heart attack and died in a shelter in the northern city of Karmiel, while a missile impacted in Haifa, wounding at least 23 people, three of them seriously.
The three seriously wounded in Haifa included a 16-year-old boy who sustained shrapnel wounds to his upper body, and two men, aged 54 and 40, who sustained wounds to their lower bodies, according to the Magen David Adom ambulance service.
The other 20 wounded sustained light injuries, MDA said, adding that all the wounded were taken to hospitals.
The woman who died in Karmiel was identified as Yelena Sadowski, 51. Sadowski collapsed while running to the shelter amid the missile sirens. Medics who arrived at the scene were forced to declare her dead.
ילנה זדובסקי היא האישה שלקתה בליבה ומתה בזמן האזעקות בכרמיאלhttps://t.co/d1aZG4G9mm pic.twitter.com/boAs7vIzwx
— ynet עדכוני (@ynetalerts) June 20, 2025
Haifa mayor Yona Yahav told reporters at the scene that the barrage hit “two strategic areas” in the city, without elaborating.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the missile barrage hit the Al-Jarina Mosque in Haifa’s Wadi Nisnas neighborhood.
“The missile attack injured Muslim clerics who were in the mosque,” wrote Sa’ar, adding footage from the scene. “The Iranian regime is targeting Muslim, Christian and Jewish civilians, as well as civilian sites. These are war crimes.”
The Israel Defense Forces estimated that the attack included some 25 missiles.
The Iranian regime launched a missile attack on Haifa and struck the Al-Jarina Mosque in the Wadi Nisnas neighborhood. The missile attack injured Muslim clerics who were in the mosque.
The Iranian regime is targeting Muslim, Christian, and Jewish civilians, as well as civilian… pic.twitter.com/aG9JRfyLP7— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) June 20, 2025
Shockwaves from the missile knocked out stained glass windows and caused infrastructure damage at the Al Jarina Grand Mosque, built in 1775 and extended in 1901.
The low, thick-walled stone building near Haifa’s port usually attracts up to 200 people for Friday prayers, but just 15 turned up because of a Home Front prohibition on large gatherings, according to Wakf representative Khalid Dagash.
He said prayers had ended by the time the missile fell and nobody was left in the building.
One person whose identity he didn’t know was lightly injured outside, he said.
The building was undergoing renovation, said Dagash, adding that he feared government compensation would not be enough to repair the damage.
Windows were also blown out at the even older Masjid Al-Saghir, built in 1761. No other damage was visible from the cordon outside.
Cluster bomb on a daycare center
Footage from Beersheba showed Iran likely targeted the city with a cluster bomb.
Videos and photos showed several impacts of small munitions at multiple locations in the southern city, indicating that a ballistic missile carrying a cluster bomb warhead was used in the attack.
One of the small munitions hit a daycare. Two homes in Beersheba also sustained damage, but no one was hurt, police and medics said.
Iran likely targeted Beersheba with a cluster bomb in its latest attack on Israel, footage shows.
Videos and photos from the southern city show several impacts of small munitions at multiple locations in the city, indicating that a ballistic missile carrying a cluster bomb… pic.twitter.com/yPQqSXhbt8
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 20, 2025
One of the impacts caused significant damage to the Colel Chabad Daycare Center in Beersheba, the organization said.
“Miraculously, no children or staff were physically harmed, as the strike occurred Friday afternoon outside the center’s regular operating time. However, the destruction of classrooms and play areas has deeply impacted dozens of local families who rely on the center for stability, safety and childcare,” Colel Chabad said.
Israel’s fire service said it was putting out a fire that broke out at an impact site in Beersheba.
The apparent targeting of Beersheba with a cluster bomb came after the IDF Home Front Command on Thursday confirmed that Iran had launched at least one ballistic missile carrying a cluster bomb warhead at central Israel.
???? WATCH: Iranian Cluster Rocket Hits Colel Chabad Daycare in Be’er Sheva
This security footage captures the moment an Iranian cluster rocket struck the Colel Chabad Daycare Center in Be’er Sheva.
The affected facility is the Tchelet Mordechai Campus, York Center, part of the… pic.twitter.com/CARd2UhUSt
— Colel Chabad (@ColelChabad) June 20, 2025
According to the military, the missile’s warhead opened up while descending, at an altitude of around 7 kilometers (4.3 miles), spreading about 20 smaller munitions with roughly 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds) of explosives, in a radius of some 8 kilometers (5 miles). Neither Israel nor Iran is a signatory to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the weapons.
Missile fragments were also reported in central Israel. No injuries were caused.
New shelters
The Israeli government on Friday approved a Defense Ministry and Home Front Command plan to renovate 500 public bomb shelters and deploy 1,000 mobile roadside shelters across the country, with an estimated cost of 100 million NIS.
“In light of the security situation, the government approved via a phone vote a plan to accelerate home front defense,” the Defense Ministry said.
The ministry said the 500 public shelters that will be refurbished are mostly in central Israel, which has been repeatedly targeted by Iran in the past week.
The 1,000 roadside shelters will be placed “in sensitive areas nationwide,” it added.
Despite the holdup, several locales in the Gush Dan area have already received portable shelters from the Home Front Command, including Bnei Brak and Ramat Hasharon.
Iran has launched over 470 ballistic missiles and around 1,000 drones at Israel since the IDF commenced operations against the Islamic Republic last Friday.
So far, Iran’s missile attacks have killed 24 people and wounded thousands in Israel, according to health officials and hospitals. Some of the missiles have hit apartment buildings, a university and a hospital, causing heavy damage.
Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites and ballistic missile program is necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.
The Times of Israel Community.