Teenager, volunteer medic among dead in Beit Shemesh strike

According to emergency services and security officials, the missile scored a direct hit on a synagogue.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

Israeli authorities released the names of four of the nine people killed when an Iranian ballistic missile struck a residential neighborhood in the central city of Beit Shemesh, in what officials described as the deadliest single missile strike inside Israel since the outbreak of the current conflict with Iran.

The attack brought the death toll in Israel to 11 since the war began on Saturday.

The victims identified were Gabriel Baruch Revach, 16; Oren Katz; Sara Elimelech; and her daughter, Ronit Elimelech.

Rescue teams continued searching through the rubble for six people believed to be trapped and not yet contacted, hours after the strike.

According to emergency services and security officials, the missile scored a direct hit on a synagogue, causing it to collapse and heavily damaging a public bomb shelter located beneath the building, as well as nearby homes.

Forty-eight people were injured in the attack, including three in serious condition and three moderately wounded. The remaining victims suffered light injuries and were evacuated to hospitals in Jerusalem and central Israel.

“This was a direct impact by a heavy ballistic missile,” a senior defense official said. “Air defense systems were activated, but the interceptor apparently failed. The incident is under investigation by the Israeli Air Force.”

The Israel Defense Forces said rescue and recovery units from the Home Front Command, along with large medical teams and air evacuation helicopters, were deployed at the scene within minutes.

Among those killed were Sara Elimelech and her 45-year-old daughter Ronit, a volunteer medic with the United Hatzalah emergency organization.

Ronit had been visiting her parents with her three children when sirens sounded, prompting the family to enter the public shelter beneath the synagogue.

Two of her children were pulled alive from the debris and hospitalized with light to moderate injuries. A third child was unharmed, and Sara Elimelech’s husband was also rescued.

“Ronit joined United Hatzalah after her young son asked her to volunteer as his birthday gift,” said Eli Beer, the organization’s president. “I met them personally, and they hold a very special place in our hearts. Itamar was so proud of his mother.”

Oren Katz, another victim identified by the Beit Shemesh municipality, is survived by his wife, children, and a brother.

Sixteen-year-old Gabriel Baruch Revach was also killed in the strike. Local media reports said his father had been involved in fundraising for the synagogue that was destroyed.

The Beit Shemesh attack came amid a broader wave of Iranian missile fire targeting central Israel.

Late Saturday night, a 32-year-old caregiver, Mary Anne Velasquez de Vera, was killed when a missile directly struck a building in Tel Aviv.

De Vera was helping her ward make her way to a shelter. The Home Front Command said that missile, too, was not intercepted.

On Sunday, a 60-year-old woman on her way to a shelter suffered severe shortness of breath before dying.