Two Israelis have been killed and over 120 injured in the two days since Operation Roaring Lion began, the Israel Defense Forces has confirmed.

The first fatality occured when a missile hit an older residential building whose designated protected spaces are public shelters instead of built-in safe rooms.

Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s emergency medical service, said that the woman, who was initially in critical condition, succumbed to her injuries a few hours after the attack.

“Paramedics have confirmed the death of a woman in her 40s,” after an Iranian missile hit the Tel Aviv city center, according to a senior officer in a video shared by the army.

Marina Bleive, a 68-year-old Tel Aviv resident, suffocated on her way to the shelter on Sunday morning.

Her daughter Aya told Ynet: “I started walking, I went outside. [Marina] told me, ‘Go, I’ll come.’ I turned around and saw that she had stopped, and she shouted, ‘Go, don’t wait for me’… I kept walking, and then the neighbor called me and said that my mom was sitting on the bench and was choking.”

Evacuation, building damage after the strike

Following the direct strike on Tel Aviv, over 200 residents were evacuated from the area and housed in three hotels nearby.

40 buildings in the area have been inspected so far, with only one being declared unfit for habitation.

Of the 40 buildings, 29 sustained property damage without significant structural impact, and 10 suffered minor damage.

The Home Front Command said Iran has launched several hundred missiles towards Israel and other countries in the region, sending a continuous stream of missiles rather than the organized waves of 20-30 missiles that were seen during Operation Rising Lion, last June.

Source: Jerusalem Post

- Agencies