The mayor of Tel Aviv said a “direct strike” damaged a building on Tuesday after an Iranian missile attack warning, as Israeli first responders said they had treated four people for light injuries.
The strike in an upscale neighbourhood in the north of the Israeli coastal city tore open the facade of an old three-storey building and scattered debris across the street, according to reports from the scene.
Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai told reporters that the building had been hit by a “direct strike”.
According to several Israeli media outlets, including military radio, police believe the damage was caused by a cluster munition missile equipped with three to four warheads, each carrying around 100 kilograms of explosives.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service released a video from one of the affected apartments that showed extensive damage from the explosion.
MDA said it had treated and quickly discharged four people, revising down an earlier toll of six people lightly wounded.
A source at the MDA said the individuals had inhaled smoke following a small fire caused by the explosion.
The Israeli military had so far issued on Tuesday seven warnings of incoming missile fire from Iran in central and southern Israel, as well as at least six warnings of missiles or rockets fired from Lebanon in the north.
Israel’s military has said that it intercepts just over 90% of incoming fire from Iran and regularly reminds residents to take shelter during alerts, as missile defence is not completely “airtight”.
Police said they had deployed bomb disposal teams to “several impact sites of munitions” in the Tel Aviv district, but no injuries were reported beyond the four people treated following the direct strike on the residential building.
