Israeli towns reel from ‘terrifying’ Iranian missile strikes

2026.03.22 06:20 A man looks at residential buildings damaged by an Iranian missile strike in Arad, southern Israel, on Sunday. Photo: AP Sheltering from an Iranian missile attack on his town in southern Israel on Saturday, 17-year-old Ido Franky heard “terrifying” blasts like nothing he had experienced before. An Iranian missile hit Franky’s town of Arad, hours after another struck Dimona – home to a nuclear facility – wounding dozens and leaving entire residential blocks with heavy damage. Franky rushed to shelter with his family as air raid sirens sounded, warning of an incoming attack. “There was a ‘boom, boom!’, my mother was screaming,” he said near the impact site, where firefighters reported a blaze. “This was terrifying … this town had never seen anything like this,” the teenager said. Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service said 84 wounded people were taken to hospitals from the Arad scene, including 10 in serious condition. In the early hours of Sunday, dozens of people were still at the site, taking photos or calling friends and family to share details of the destruction, even as police warned residents on loudspeakers not to approach. Security forces patrolled the streets with flashlights while rescuers searched the rubble to ensure all casualties had been recovered. A five-metre (16 feet) crater was left amid the bombed-out buildings. A child stands near the site of an Iranian missile strike in Arad on Sunday. Photo: AFP Police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said that “the operation will take a few hours” before authorities can clear the scene and ensure all residents are accounted for. An earlier missile attack hit the town of Dimona, about 25km (16 miles) southwest of Arad. Dimona hosts a facility widely believed to possess the Middle East’s sole nuclear arsenal, although Israel has never confirmed possessing nuclear weapons. Israel has maintained a policy of ambiguity about its nuclear programme and the plant officially focuses on research. The

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