Iran fired multiple missile barrages targeting nearly all areas of Israel early Tuesday morning, casting doubt on a fragile U.S.- and Qatar-brokered ceasefire meant to end the brutal 12-day war between the two nations.

The missiles came in at least five waves. During the second barrage, a missile directly impacted an apartment building in the southern city of Beersheva – reportedly as many residents were asleep in their beds.

So far, MDA teams have pronounced the deaths of five people. About 20 people were injured in the attack, two moderately and the rest lightly. MDA teams are continuing search and rescue operations.

It has been confirmed that four of the people were killed in their safe rooms when a missile directly hit the rooms on the sixth floor of an apartment building. Although safe rooms have saved countless lives in cases where buildings were hit by missiles, they cannot withstand a direct hit on the room itself, especially by a missile with a heavy explosive warhead. Two people were killed last week in Petach Tikvah while in their safe room.

MDA paramedic Dvir Ben Ze’ev, who is at the impact site in southern Israel, said:

“We responded to the incident in large numbers, including Mobile Intensive Care Units, ambulances, rapid response vehicles, and medicycles. We saw significant destruction to several buildings on the street where the rocket fell.

“At the entrance to one of the buildings, an unconscious man was lying down, and after further searches, two more casualties—a man and a woman—were found unconscious. We conducted medical checks, but sadly, we had no choice but to pronounce them dead.”

Beersheva’s mayor said a large chunk of the building had collapsed, and more people are believed to be trapped beneath the debris.

Additionally, a woman in northern Israel was reportedly seriously injured by falling shrapnel from an interceptor missiles during the fourth wave of ballistic missiles.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)