Jerusalem, 10 March, 2026 (TPS-IL) — A second construction worker died on Tuesday from injuries sustained during an Iranian missile strike in central Israel on Monday, raising the death toll from the attack to two.
The victims, identified as Rustam Golomb, 61, and Amid Murtuzov, 41, were residents of Petah Tikva. Both were at a construction site in Yehud when one of the Iranian ballistic missiles carrying a cluster bomb struck. Golomb was critically wounded and later died at Sheba Medical Center, while Murtuzov was pronounced dead the previous night.
“The Iranian missile struck within the compound, sending shrapnel dozens of meters that hit both of them,” police said, describing the impact on workers who were outside protective shelters. Medics confirmed Golomb’s death at the hospital, while Murtuzov was pronounced dead at the scene.
A third man was seriously wounded in nearby Or Yehuda during the same missile strike. Security officials said the missile’s cluster warhead likely dispersed submunitions across multiple sites, also affecting Holon and Bat Yam. In Holon, damage was reported to vehicles and a school sports hall, while Bat Yam saw street and vehicle damage.
Maj. Gen. Shai Klapper, chief of the Home Front Command, stressed the importance of following safety protocols. “We had a difficult incident at this construction site, where several people were injured. At the same time, I want to say that there were dozens of workers whose lives were saved. Their lives were saved because they were in a protected space and followed the guidelines,” he said in a military video statement.
Authorities said the construction workers at Yehud were near the site entrance and outside the designated protective areas. It remains unclear why they did not seek shelter inside the building’s protected space or descend to the parking garage. The injured man in Or Yehuda was reportedly on his way to a shelter when he was hit by shrapnel.
According to the Ministry of Construction and Housing, construction work is only permitted where safe, accessible shelters exist, and worker presence should be minimized during sirens. Responsibility for enforcing these guidelines lies with site managers and contractors.
A cluster bomb is a weapon that disperses dozens or hundreds of smaller submunitions over a wide area, designed to strike multiple targets simultaneously. Critics argue that the submunitions cannot reliably distinguish between military and civilian areas and often fail to detonate, leaving unexploded ordnance that can kill civilians years later.
While they are banned by the Convention on Cluster Munitions of 2008, several countries, including the U.S., Russia, China, Israel, and Iran, never ratified the treaty and are not party to it.
The deaths bring to 13 the number of people killed in missile attacks since Israel and the United States launched airstrikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
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