Part of an intercepted Iranian missile the size of a bus impacted at the entrance to a large city in Samaria during the Islamic Republic latest aerial assault on the Jewish state on Thursday morning, regional authorities said.
Since the start of the fighting on June 13, more than 100 parts of Iranian missiles and Israeli interceptors have been found in communities across the area, Samaria Regional Council leader Yossi Dagan, said.
While no injuries have been reported in Samaria, Dagan criticized the government for failing to prioritize developing communities in his jurisdiction in providing bomb shelters or protected spaces.
“Judea and Samaria are the eastern shield and have become Israel’s ‘interception line,’” Dagan said, noting that Iranian projectiles fired toward the country’s central region enter the Jewish state from Jordan.
“The fact that the simple demand to place protected rooms and public shelters in the community centers—like in other confrontation zones—is being ignored, is abandoning thousands of residents,” he said.
“Every night, interceptors fall on houses, yards and vehicles. During this difficult time, we expect the state to approve building public protection areas as required and as is done throughout the country,” he added.
After Dagan appealed to the head of the IDF Home Front Command, Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, the army decided on Thursday to station a rescue battalion in Samaria for the first time since the start of the seven-front war that began with the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in the south.
“Thank you very much for coming. The residents of Samaria and all the people of Israel know they have someone they can rely on,” Dagan told the Home Front Command troops on their arrival, Arutz 7 reported.
Early on June 13, more than 200 Israeli fighter jets attacked dozens of enemy targets, including military and nuclear sites, in a “preemptive, precise, combined” opening strike on Tehran’s nuclear program.
Since the start of the war on Friday, Iranian attacks on Israel’s civilian population centers have killed 24 people in the Jewish state. Three were killed on Friday, 13 overnight on Saturday, and eight early on Monday.