Jerusalem/Dimona: In a sharp escalation of the ongoing conflict, Iran fired ballistic missiles targeting the southern Israeli towns of Dimona and Arad late Saturday night, injuring more than 100 people in what Tehran described as a direct response to earlier strikes on its Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.
Dimona, home to the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center—Israel’s primary nuclear research installation—saw missiles strike residential areas, causing significant structural damage including craters in the ground and torn building facades, according to reports from news agency AFP. Firefighters and emergency services noted that Israel’s air defense systems activated but failed to intercept at least two incoming ballistic missiles equipped with heavy warheads.
Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency medical service, reported 84 wounded in Arad—10 of them seriously—and 33 injured in Dimona. Paramedics described scenes of extensive damage and chaos at impact sites, with one first responder, Karmel Cohen, highlighting the severity of the destruction.
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Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin stated on X that emergency units from the Home Front Command and rescue teams were actively conducting operations at the scenes. He expressed solidarity with residents of Arad and Dimona, wished the injured a swift recovery, and urged the public to adhere to Home Front Command guidelines, emphasizing that such instructions save lives. Defrin confirmed the air defenses had operated but did not succeed in intercepting the missiles, adding that an investigation into the incident was underway. He clarified that the strikes did not involve any unusual or special weaponry.
The Iranian missile barrage followed reports of an airstrike on Iran’s Natanz site earlier that day, with no radiation leakage detected there, as noted by the official Iranian news agency Mizan and the UN nuclear watchdog. Natanz, located about 220 kilometers southeast of Tehran, serves as Iran’s main uranium enrichment facility and had previously sustained damage in earlier phases of the conflict involving Israel and the United States.
Visuals circulating online, including footage shared by accounts like Clash Report on X, captured dramatic moments of missile impacts, with fireballs descending amid the night sky. Israeli officials and media described the attacks as deliberate targeting of civilian areas, though no casualties were reported at the nuclear research center itself.
The strikes mark a notable tit-for-tat exchange in the broader US-Israel-Iran confrontation, heightening concerns over regional stability as both sides continue military operations.
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