4 bodies found in wreckage of Haifa residential building hit by Iranian missile
The bodies of four people were recovered from under the rubble at the site of an Iranian ballistic missile impact in Haifa, rescue services said Monday, as a fresh barrage targeting the same area lightly wounded four people and caused additional damage.
The Fire and Rescue Service said early Monday that following hours of efforts alongside the Home Front Command, forces “rescued two trapped individuals found under the rubble without signs of life.” The two were a man and woman in their 80s.
A few hours later, it was announced that a third body — that of a man in his 40s — had been found underneath the wreckage of the building.
A short time after that, rescue forces said they had also recovered the body of a woman aged 35. The final body was recovered some 18 hours after the missile hit.
Four people were initially reported missing after the strike, first responders said late Sunday, adding that the building was at “serious” risk of collapse.
None of the dead have been publicly named.
The attack also left an 82-year-old man seriously wounded, along with a 78-year-old woman who was lightly to moderately wounded, and a 38-year-old woman and a 10-month-old baby lightly wounded, the latter with a head injury, according to medical officials.
A spokesperson for the Rambam Health Care Campus said Monday that the 82-year-old man had undergone surgery and was sedated and ventilated.
His wife, aged 78, was also hospitalized and in good condition, the hospital said.
Huge warhead did not explode
According to investigations by the military and the police, the warhead from the ballistic missile — with an estimated several hundred kilograms of explosive material — did not explode upon impact.
The kinetic energy from the impact caused several floors of the residential building to collapse; however, there was no major damage to nearby homes.
Had the warhead exploded, the damage from the blast would have likely destroyed the entire building and damaged surrounding homes, rescue forces assessed.
Heavy damage can be seen to a residential building in Haifa following an Iranian missile strike on April 5, 2026. (Magen David Adom)
An Israeli Air Force probe found that the missile was not intercepted because it broke up in the air.
Interceptors missed their target because the projectile broke apart and its expected trajectory changed, according to the probe.
A section of the missile, apparently the warhead, then fell down and struck the residential building, causing the partial collapse.
At the scene on Sunday night, Israel Police Commissioner Danny Levy told reporters that the warhead, still under the rubble, was unlikely to explode. “We evacuated several buildings, so that, in the unlikely case that the missile explodes, nobody will be hurt. Our sappers are handling the matter,” he said.
Neighbors described a huge bang and a mushroom cloud followed ten minutes later by a gas explosion.
Smoke initially billowed from the ruins as emergency personnel worked carefully to remove the rubble.
Home Front Command search and rescue forces work amid the rubble of a residential building struck by an Iranian missile in Haifa, April 5, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)
As the destroyed part of the building is located on a hillside, away from the street and facing woodland, a large digger cleared trees to create access from the bottom.
Vered Ohana, a resident of Haifa, told the Ynet news site: “It was a huge boom, a crazy boom. It was clear that there was a direct hit.”
Most of the residents had sheltered in the building’s bomb shelter and were unharmed, according to rescue services.
Those killed were not in a bomb safe room at the time of the impact, according to search and rescue officials.
‘Most complex’ search and rescue operation
A senior Home Front Command search and rescue officer described the 18-hour effort to recover the four bodies as one of the “most complex” rescue operations of the war.
According to the officer, the four victims were in an inner room in an apartment at the bottom of the building, close to the stairwell, and not in a bomb safe room.
“This was one of the most complex rescue operations we have dealt with in the recent campaign. 18 hours of using specialized capabilities, a lot of work,” he said in a call with reporters.
The officer said the forces operated under the assumption that the victims could be alive, and therefore “worked slowly and methodically until we extracted all four.”
Additionally, the rescue operation was complicated by the fear that the Iranian ballistic missile’s warhead had not exploded upon impact. “The assumption was that there was either a warhead or some unexploded ordnance inside the structure,” the officer said, adding that “necessary precautions” were taken.
To reach the victims as quickly as possible, the Home Front Command forces dug several tunnels within the rubble. “There is a very complex procedure here,” the officer added.
Home Front Command chief Maj. Gen. Shai Klapper said at the scene overnight that the military would act with “determination, professionalism, and thoroughness” until everyone was found.
He described the scene as “complex” but noted that the army’s search and rescue units, “together with emergency organizations, have high expertise in operations of this kind.”
Klapper also noted that an early warning was issued and sirens sounded in Haifa amid the attack.
“I am aware that this campaign is ongoing and challenging. Nevertheless, adherence to the guidelines and staying in protected spaces saves lives,” he said.
Second attack
In the early hours of Monday morning, another ballistic missile attack from Iran targeted the Haifa area.
Unlike the deadly attack a day earlier, the missile fired Monday was assessed by the Israel Defense Forces to have carried a cluster warhead, spreading bomblets over a large area.
Four people were lightly hurt following the attack, medics said. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it treated a couple in their 40s and two young girls who suffered smoke inhalation.
Additionally, one of the suspected bomblet impacts sparked a car fire, while another flipped over a vehicle, footage showed.
Central Israel targeted
In addition, Iran fired a cluster warhead at the center of the country on Monday morning, spreading bomblets over a wide area with some 15-20 impacts recorded.
At least two people were wounded, including one seriously, medics said.
MDA said it treated a 34-year-old woman who was hit after a cluster submunition struck next to her in Petah Tikva. She was taken to a hospital in serious condition.
A video circulated on social media showed the woman standing by the open door of her car during the attack. An explosion is seen just yards away, knocking the woman to the ground and damaging her car. Moments later, the woman gets to her feet and stumbles out of view.
נופלת לצד הרכב – ואז קמה על רגליה: תיעוד רגע הפגיעה בפתח תקווה, בה נפצעה אישה באורח קשה@AnnaPines_ pic.twitter.com/aUUHRETIkM
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) April 6, 2026
The IDF Home Front Command has repeatedly urged drivers who are caught on the road when a siren goes off to immediately seek safety in the nearest bomb shelter, or, if unable to, to distance themselves from the vehicle and lie flat on the ground with their hands protecting their head.
In Tel Aviv, a man in his 30s was lightly hurt by glass shards, MDA said.
The center of the country was also targeted twice overnight, sending millions running for shelter.
A 90-year-old woman was in serious condition after she fell on her way to the bomb shelter, MDA said.
According to the IDF, the first salvo of missiles was intercepted, while the second, which contained a cluster warhead, dispersed over an open area.
More than 500 ballistic missiles have been launched from Iran at Israel since the start of the ongoing war on February 28.
In all, at least 14 missiles carrying conventional warheads with hundreds of kilograms of explosives have struck populated areas in Israel, causing extensive damage. There have also been more than 30 incidents of missiles carrying cluster bomb warheads hitting populated areas, with over 200 separate impact sites.
Since the war began on February 28, 18 Israeli civilians and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel in Iranian ballistic missile attacks, along with four Palestinians in the West Bank.
Sue Surkes, Diana Bletter and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
