Jerusalem, 6 April, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israeli rescue teams recovered the bodies of four people from the rubble of a residential Building in Haifa on Monday, ending an 18-hour search after an Iranian ballistic missile struck the structure and triggered a partial collapse.
The dead were identified as an elderly couple in their 80s, their son in his 40s, and his 35-year-old partner, a foreign national.
Israeli rescue teams recovered the bodies of four people from the rubble of a residential building in Haifa on Monday, ending an 18-hour search after an Iranian ballistic missile struck the structure and caused a partial collapse.
The victims were identified as an elderly couple in their 80s, their son in his 40s, and his 35-year-old partner, a foreign national.
The missile hit the building directly during an Iranian barrage on Sunday, injuring four other people, including an 82-Year-Old Man who underwent surgery and a 10-month-old baby with a head injury. Israeli media reported that the building was at significant risk of further collapse, forcing rescuers to work cautiously through concrete slabs and unstable debris overnight and into Monday.
An initial investigation revealed that the missile’s warhead did not explode on impact. Instead, investigators said, the projectile disintegrated midair, causing Israeli interceptors to miss as its trajectory changed. A section of the missile then struck the building, and the force of the impact—rather than an explosion—caused several floors to collapse. Police said nearby buildings were evacuated because part of the missile might still be buried in the rubble, containing a large amount of explosives.
The missile hit the building directly during an Iranian barrage on Sunday, wounding four other people, including an 82-year-old man who underwent surgery and a 10-month-old baby who suffered a head injury. Israeli media said the building was at serious risk of further collapse, forcing rescuers to work slowly through concrete slabs and unstable debris through the night and into Monday.
An initial investigation found that the missile’s warhead did not detonate on impact. Instead, investigators said, the projectile broke apart in the air, causing Israeli interceptors to miss as its trajectory changed. A section of the missile then slammed into the building, and the force of the impact — rather than an explosion — brought down several floors. Police said nearby buildings were evacuated because part of the missile may still have been buried in the rubble with a large quantity of explosives.
Israeli officials said most residents who reached protected spaces survived, while those killed were not believed to have been inside a safe room at the time of impact. The strike underscored the vulnerability of older residential blocks in northern Israel during the continuing missile war with Iran, as rescue crews and bomb-disposal teams remained at the scene even after the final body was recovered.
Haifa was targeted again early Monday in a separate barrage that lightly wounded four more people.