At least four people were killed in southern Israel when a ballistic missile fired from Iran hit an apartment block in the hours before the two countries confirmed that they had agreed to a cease-fire on Tuesday, according to the Israeli authorities.
The missile was one of about 20 fired in at least four barrages across the country in the hours surrounding the truce that was first announced by President Trump, according to Israeli officials. The Israeli military also said it struck missile launchers in western Iran that were poised to fire at Israel.
The fatal attack in Beersheba, a city of about 600,000 in southern Israel, at around sunrise, came soon after Mr. Trump said that a phased cease-fire had been agreed. But the official start time of the truce was unclear.
Hours after the strike, rescue workers continued to search the ruins of the apartment building in Beersheba, advancing on ladders to try to access an area buried inside the structure where survivors were feared to be trapped.
The direct missile hit was one of the deadliest single Iranian strikes since the war began in the early hours of June 13 when Israel began a military assault on Iran’s nuclear sites, military personnel and infrastructure.
Israeli warplanes have pounded Iran, and Iran has fired more than 500 ballistic missiles and more than 1,000 drones, according to the Israeli government.
Iran’s attacks on Israel have killed 28 people, including those in Beersheba on Tuesday. Hundreds of people have been killed in Israel’s strikes on Iran, according to the Iranian authorities.
Images on Israeli television showed widespread destruction in a residential complex in Beersheba, a city in Israel’s Negev desert. Another missile struck a building in a major hospital complex in the city last week, causing serious damage, but no fatalities. Most patients and staff had already been evacuated or moved into other areas of the complex.
Israel has accused Iran of deliberately firing into civilian areas. Iranian authorities say the Israeli military has hit targets in civilian buildings in Iran, and caused many deaths.
Victoria Shifrin, who said she lived on the second floor of the building that was hit in Beersheba, told Israel’s Channel 12 television that she and her family had entered the safe room in their apartment when the sirens sounded. She said they heard a huge boom and the door of the fortified room blew in. “We understood it struck here,” she said.
Police and rescue services helped the family leave, Ms. Shifrin said. She said she left with nothing but the dress and slippers she had hurriedly put on and described climbing and half-sliding down a destroyed staircase. “I was shaking,” she said. “We were terrified.”
Isabel Kershner, a Times correspondent in Jerusalem, has been reporting on Israeli and Palestinian affairs since 1990.
Gabby Sobelman is a reporter and researcher for The Times, covering Israeli and Palestinian affairs, based in Rehovot, Israel.
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