Iranian missiles kill nine in Israel, with UAE, Oman and Kuwait also targeted
An Iranian missile attack on the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh killed at least nine people on Sunday, medics said.
The Magen David Adom emergency service said that at least 28 were also wounded in the attack, two of them seriously.
Israeli police said it was a direct hit on a building in Beit Shemesh, a densely populated city located 30km from Jerusalem.
Search and rescue teams were in the area, according to Israel’s military, as well as a helicopter to evacuate the wounded.
An army spokesperson added that the circumstances of the impact from the Iranian ballistic missile were being reviewed.
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“When I arrived, I saw a terrible scene," paramedic Yehuda Shlomo was quoted as saying by AFP.
"I saw heavy structural damage, smoke in the air, and a great deal of chaos, with dozens of frightened casualties emerging from damaged buildings."
Pnina Pfeuffer, an ultra-Orthodox activist, said Beit Shemesh is a predominantly ultra-Orthodox city and that many residents had little information about the situation following the strike, as they were not permitted to use their phones on Shabbat.
"There isn’t much to say. It’s a tragic event. People were killed simply because they were staying in a shelter," Pfeuffer told Middle East Eye.
"Although Israel is very well prepared for attacks, even shelters are not immune to a direct hit."
The strike on Beit Shemesh was the deadliest attack on Israel since the conflict began.
"Ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods are very densely populated. The greater the density, the greater the risks," Pfeuffer said.
Iran has repeatedly launched strikes against Israel in response to the US-Israeli attacks that began early on Saturday.
Casualties in multiple Gulf states
Iranian missiles have also struck a number of Gulf countries.
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates said three people had been killed and 58 wounded since Saturday.
Those killed in the UAE attacks were Pakistani, Nepalese and Bangladeshi nationals, Abu Dhabi's defence ministry said.
The Emirates detected 165 ballistic missiles, destroying 152 and intercepting two cruise missiles, the ministry said.
It added that 506 of 541 Iranian drones had been shot down.
In Kuwait, one person was killed and 32 others injured since Saturday, the country’s health ministry said.
In Oman, a key mediator in US-Iran nuclear talks, the port of Duqm was targeted by two drones on Sunday. Oman had been the only Gulf country spared from strikes a day earlier.
"One drone struck a mobile workers' accommodation, injuring one foreign worker, while debris from the other landed near fuel tanks, causing no casualties or material damage," the Oman News Agency said.
Later on Sunday, Oman said an oil tanker was targeted off the coast. Its crew was evacuated and four of them were injured, the agency reported.
Also on Sunday, drones struck the airport in the Bahraini capital, Manama, causing minor damage, authorities said.
The US embassy in Manama urged citizens to steer clear of hotels in the city after the Crowne Plaza was hit.
A day earlier, drones and shrapnel hit residential buildings in the Bahraini capital, with videos on social media showing smoke and fire erupting from high-rise buildings.
In Qatar, where the biggest US military base in the region is located, officials said Iran launched 65 missiles and 12 drones towards the Gulf state.
Most of them were intercepted, but eight people were wounded, one of them critically.
Smoke was visible near US bases in Abu Dhabi and Manama, home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, witnesses said. US bases were also targeted in Kuwait.
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