Nine people were killed and more than 40 injured, some seriously, in the Iranian rocket attack on a synagogue in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh. An on-site inspection in the days that followed.
March 5, 2026, 11:38 amMarch 5, 2026, 11:38 am
Lisa Schneider and Balig Sladeen, Beit Shemesh / ch media
Beit Shemesh has become a ghost town. Apart from the essential supermarkets, most shops remain closed and only a few cars can be seen on the streets. The sidewalks are almost empty, as are the playgrounds. And in a quiet residential area, in front of yellowish apartment blocks with white air conditioning units glowing in the sun: burnt cars. The houses have broken windows. An area full of rubble.
Immediately after the impact on March 1st, rescue workers tried to get an overview of the situation in Beit Shemesh.Image: keystone
There used to be a synagogue there. She is hardly recognizable anymore. Last Sunday, a rocket fired by Iran hit the Ramat Lehi neighborhood in the Orthodox city west of Jerusalem. Nine people died and over 40 were injured, some seriously.
Israel Zeev Leventhal, wearing a white shirt and dark yarmulke, was sitting with his family in the shelter of his home, about 300 meters away, when it happened. “Suddenly we heard a loud bang,” he says. “At first I thought our building had been bombed.” His children started crying and clinging to him. Leventhal learns about the impact in his neighborhood from the news.
The radius of the destruction and damage is about one kilometer, says Shmuel Greenberg, mayor of Beit Shemesh. He attended nine funerals this Monday. “It’s not easy,” he says. Now we have to help the population. At a funeral, the air raid siren suddenly goes off and the mourners have to take cover.
During the funeral of several victims at the Beit Shemesh cemetery, the air raid siren suddenly sounds. Mourners must take cover. (March 2, 2026)Image: keystone
On Monday afternoons, buses repeatedly drive into the neighborhood and then out again, loaded with people. As was the case during the war with Hezbollah in 2024, the State of Israel is now again accommodating evacuees in hotels.
One of those leaving Beit Shemesh is Shlomo Tal Korkus. He stands in the apartment that was previously his home in a thick winter jacket. He says: “I don’t normally go into the shelter. But I had an appointment half an hour before the impact, so I wasn’t home. After it happened, people sent me pictures of my badly damaged apartment.” Maybe his appointment saved his life.
The deadliest attack on Israel to date
The attack on Beit Shemesh is the deadliest in the war with Iran so far. And the fact that people were killed in an air raid shelter is causing unrest among many in the country. Shai Klapper is the commander of the so-called Home Front Command. The Home Front Command is one of four commands of the Israel Defense Forces. It is intended to protect the civilian population – and to save them in an emergency.
An army member helps evacuate houses in Beit Shemesh.Image: keystone
The Home Front Command is also issuing instructions to the population on what to do: for example, that all gatherings will remain banned until the end of this week. Their app shows people missile warnings directly on their cell phones. If you release your location there, you will receive relevant warnings and information.
Klapper stands in front of the rubble in Beit Shemesh this Monday.
About twenty people were in the shelter, most of them survived, he says. According to an investigation by Home Front Command, two victims were killed in the shelter. One died on the stairs as he was about to close the bunker door. Six others were killed outside the shelter.
Because there were also deaths in the shelter, an investigation was initially initiated by the Israeli army. However, this showed that it met all safety requirements.
There was a similar case in the Twelve-Day War with Iran last year: At that time, in the southern desert city of Beer Sheva, a rocket hit the sixth floor of a building and hit shelters that were located directly in the apartments, called Mamad. Four people who had sought shelter there died.
Shelters such as those inside apartments are designed to withstand the pressure wave of a rocket impact, not a direct impact from a heavily loaded rocket.
US investigates attack on girls’ school in Iran
The attack occurred on the first day of the war and is one of the deadliest attacks to date in the American-Israeli campaign against Iran. According to Iranian state media and health authorities, the majority of the victims were children.
It is still unclear why the school was hit and whether US or Israeli forces were responsible for the attack. In response to questions, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said there was currently no evidence of US involvement. The Department of War is investigating the incident. She also did not comment on Israel’s possible role and once again referred to ongoing investigations. (chm)
Underground bunker did not hold up
Now an underground bunker under the synagogue in Beit Shemesh was also unable to withstand an impact. According to the Home Front Command report, the rocket was loaded with approximately 500 kilograms of explosives.
The attack, says Israel Zeev Leventhal, left its mark especially on his children: he carefully tried to teach them that people had died in the loud bang. “They asked me: ‘What if a rocket falls on us?'” he says. He admits that it was difficult for him to answer that. “God protects us,” he then told them. “I have a hole in my heart,” he says.
Only rubble remains of the synagogue.Image: keystone
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will also visit Beit Shemesh on Monday. Operation “Roaring Lion,” as the war against Iran is called, serves to thwart “existential threats” against Israel, Netanyahu says there. And the Prime Minister explains: Unfortunately, not all people were in the shelter and were killed that way.
The fact that there were two people in the bunker and that the shelters cannot give a 100% guarantee in an emergency remains unmentioned. Also that in many places there are no shelters at all, especially in Arab communities in Israel, as well as in the Palestinian territories. (aargauerzeitung.ch)