Fourth victim confirmed dead after hours in Haifa building collapse, missile fragments hit Israel

In Haifa, the bodies of four people were recovered from a collapsed building after all-night efforts to reach those trapped under the rubble. Earlier Monday, two casualties, a man and a woman in their 80s, were pulled from the building. At around 12:40 p.m. local time, Magen David Adom confirmed that the two additional bodies, belonging to a man in his 40s and a woman in her 30s, were recovered from the site.

On Monday evening, the four victims were identified and named as Vladimir and Yelena Gershovich, the couple in their 80s, as well as their son Dmitri, the man in his 40s, and his partner Lucille-Jean, the woman in her 30s.

During the rescue attempts, advanced technological tools, including phone tracking, were used to pinpoint the approximate locations of the trapped individuals.

In light of the civilian turmoil in Haifa, the city’s mayor, Yona Yahav, spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday morning, although the municipality’s statement did not reveal the details of the conversation.

Later on Monday, Netanyahu addressed the conversation, expressing his condolences to the families of the deceased. Further, he noted that he had instructed his office to do "everything possible in order to render assistance, to the families as well as to the municipality" at Yahav's request.

"The most important thing, however, which came up again in this conversation, is one simple rule, an ironclad rule," Netanyahu went on, "For those who follow the instructions of the Home Front Command and remain in a protected area, the chances of getting hurt are virtually non-existent."

So far, 26 families in Haifa have been evacuated to hotels, according to the Haifa Municipality, noting that 22 of the evacuations were due to the overnight barrage, and the other four were due to additional hits early Monday morning.

Fire and Rescue Services said crews were working to rescue a person trapped under rubble at an impact site in Ramat Gan, adding that there were concerns that the building, which had been impacted, could collapse.

Shrapnel from an intercepted Iranian ballistic missile hit at least 15 sites across central and northern Israel on Monday morning, Israeli media reported, adding that the missile barrage included a cluster munition.

At least one woman, approximately 34 years old, was seriously injured near Petah Tikva and was evacuated to the hospital for treatment of a chest wound caused by shrapnel, MDA confirmed.

Her condition was later updated to moderate, a spokesperson for Rabin Medical Center said.

Magen David Adom later posted a photograph of a vehicle near Petah Tikva that was damaged by shrapnel near the scene of an impact, stating that someone was seriously injured in the incident.

The driver exited the vehicle according to Home Front Command’s security guidelines, but the vehicle was hit by a fragment, causing shrapnel to wound the passengers.

Another individual was reportedly lightly wounded at the side of the road near Petah Tikva.

In Tel Aviv, a third individual was evacuated to the hospital after being lightly wounded by falling shrapnel in the Tel Aviv area, MDA added.

MDA also confirmed that emergency services were mobilized to extinguish vehicle fires caused by shrapnel, and it posted video footage of their firefighting efforts.

Footage shared by Israeli media appears to show property damage in the Tel Aviv area, including a burst water pipe.

Damage was also reported at a school in the Tel Aviv area, with photographs, shared by Maariv, appearing to show damage to the school’s outer wall.

Additionally, shrapnel landed on the roof of a building but caused no wounds, while another fragment hit a private home, also causing no wounds.

Sirens also sounded in the areas of Beersheba and the Gaza border communities at approximately 8 a.m., but no instances of shrapnel falling or of wounds were reported after the missile was successfully intercepted.