From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 22, 2026
Iranian strike on city of Dimona destroyed building housing program for underprivileged kids
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleStav Levaton is a military reporter for The Times of Israel
A building housing an afterschool program serving underprivileged children was among those destroyed in a ballistic missile strike on the city of Dimona last night, leaving 33 people wounded.
“Thank God the children weren’t there,” program director Shilgit Kanias told The Times of Israel. “This is a miracle.”
Despite the damage, Kanias is already looking ahead. “I can already see volunteers cleaning up,” she says. “Everything will be back up and running… I just don’t know how long it will take.”
Wreckage spanned several residential blocks surrounding the impact site, with many homes’ windows shattered and rooftops broken.
Nearby resident Zev Goldberg, a lone soldier who came to Israel 6 months ago from Virginia, was in a shelter when the missile struck.
“I was safe,” he says. “The shelter shook.” Seeing the aftermath, he adds: “I’m shocked… It’s a lot of damage for one rocket.”
Goldberg refuses to let the shadow of war dampen his spirit, telling The Times of Israel that he is expecting to hear from the IDF as to what position he will be assigned later today.
“I want to serve in Givati,” the infantry brigade, he says with a smile.
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