Shrapnel from Iranian missile kills Palestinian man near Jericho
Gazan laborer Sameh al-Asali, 37, believed to be the sole victim from the 180 ballistic missiles launched by Tehran; two people were reported injured inside Israel
Gianluca Pacchiani is the Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
A 37-year-old Palestinian man was killed by shrapnel in the large-scale missile attack launched by Iran against Israel on Tuesday night, officials said, apparently the only fatality in the onslaught.
“A Palestinian worker in Jericho was killed when pieces of a rocket fell from the sky and hit him,” Jericho governor Hussein Hamayel told AFP.
According to Palestinian media, Sameh al-Asali, a laborer originally from Jabalia in the Gaza Strip, was struck in the West Bank village of Nu’eima, near Jericho. Four other Palestinians were reportedly injured by shrapnel from the same missile.
According to information circulating on social media, corroborated by an image of his ID, al-Asali, a father of three, was one of the thousands of Gazan laborers with an Israeli work permit who were stranded in Israel on October 7 and sought refuge in the West Bank.
Pictures and videos circulating on social media show a meters-long fragment of a missile next to al-As li’s body, lying on the ground and covered with a sheet.
In Israel, only two people were reported wounded in the barrage, both in Tel Aviv, according to Magen David Adom. Several others were treated for minor injuries after falling over while running for shelter, and acute anxiety, MDA reported.
The IDF said that it intercepted “a large number” of the 180 ballistic missiles launched by Iran at Israel, thanks to the country’s air defenses and the cooperation of the US that detected the threat and intercepted some of the projectiles. Jordan said that it also intercepted a number of missiles and drones over its airspace.
الشهيد سامح العسلي أحد عمال غزة المُقيمين في معسكرات الأمن الوطني في أريحا.. https://t.co/F7FVaKwNFE pic.twitter.com/5dnZ5dpOi4
— Mąħðę???? (@m2m2n0) October 1, 2024
Various Arabic-language social media accounts called Iran’s missile attack a “face-saver,” as Tehran came under criticism in Lebanon and elsewhere for failing to respond to the assassination of its historic ally, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut last week.
Some Arab social media users also remarked that the Shiite Islamic Republic has so far only managed to kill and wound Sunni Muslims in its strikes against Israel. Tehran had launched a similar missile and drone attack in April, but Israel, the US, and Western and Arab allies shot down almost all the projectiles. The only injury in that assault was sustained by a seven-year old Bedouin girl in southern Israel.
Tuesday’s assault came hours after a US warning that a wide-scale attack was about to be directed at the Jewish state from Iran, which allowed the IDF to prepare its air defenses and the Home Front Command to warn the population to remain in the proximity of bomb shelters, thereby keeping the number of casualties to a minimum. Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York denied giving prior notice of the attack to the US.
The projectiles launched by Iran on Tuesday night caused a number of craters around Israel.
Videos circulating on social media showed a large sinkhole in the Sharon region, and a large fragment in the southern Bedouin town of Tel Sheva.
Beside the missile that killed al-Asali, impacts were reported in other parts of the West Bank. Palestinians in Ramallah were filmed touching and posing with a piece of a ballistic missile that fell in the city.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel would respond to the Iranian attack. “We are on heightened alert on defense and offensive, we will protect the citizens of Israel. This [missile] fire will have consequences. We have plans, and we will act in the time and place that we choose,” he said.
