June 19, 2025 – Tel Aviv, Israel — A powerful ballistic missile launched by Iran struck the city of Ramat Gan, just east of Tel Aviv, on Thursday morning, causing extensive structural damage to buildings and vehicles in the densely populated area.
The missile hit shortly after 7 a.m. local time (00:00 ET), shattering glass windows and ripping the facades from high-rise buildings. Debris hung precariously from upper floors, while the streets below were littered with wreckage, shrapnel, and dust. Dozens of cars were crushed or severely damaged by falling rubble. Emergency teams sealed off intersections near the impact site to begin search and recovery operations.
“This was likely the most heavily damaged area in this round,” said Golan Landsberg, a military emergency responder. “We prioritized this location due to its density and the likelihood of people needing extraction. Thankfully, those who remained in safe rooms were unharmed. The rooms did their job, they saved lives.”
Emergency workers respond to the site of a reported Iranian missile strike in Ramat Gan, Israel on Thursday. Erik Marmor/Getty Images
The Ramat Gan strike was part of a wider Iranian missile barrage that also targeted Holon, south of Tel Aviv, and Be’er Sheva in southern Israel, where a direct hit caused major destruction to Soroka Medical Center, one of Israel’s largest hospitals.
According to Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency service, at least 65 people were injured in the wave of strikes. Three are in critical condition, including an 80-year-old man and two women in their 70s. An additional 42 sustained minor injuries from shrapnel and blast trauma, and 18 others were hurt while rushing to shelters.
Soroka Medical Center, which serves over a million residents and is a primary evacuation site for Gaza-border casualties, sustained what officials called “extensive destruction.” Videos from the scene showed heavily damaged buildings and debris-strewn streets.
Smoke billows from Soroka Hospital in Beersheba following an Iranian missile attack on Israel, on Thursday. John Wessels/AFP/Getty Images
Iran’s IRNA state news agency claimed that the intended target was not the hospital, but rather the Gav-Yam Negev technology park located nearby. According to IRNA, the park houses critical military infrastructure, including the IDF’s C4i (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence) branch, a key part of Israel’s military intelligence network.
The park, situated adjacent to Ben-Gurion University, is described as “Israel’s most advanced center of research and development,” linking military tech veterans, academics, and the high-tech industry.
Damaged cars are seen at the site where an Iranian missile struck in Ramat Gan.
Abeer Salman/CNN
In response to the Iranian aggression, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered the Israeli Defense Forces to “intensify strikes” on strategic Iranian sites. “The cowardly Iranian dictator sits deep inside his fortified bunker and launches deliberate attacks at hospitals and residential buildings in Israel,” Katz said, referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “These are the gravest forms of war crimes, and Khamenei will be held accountable.”
Israel Katz during an event at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem on November 10, 2024.
Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also condemned the attacks, accusing Iran of deliberately targeting civilians. “A baby in intensive care. A mother by their bedside. A doctor rushing between beds. An elderly resident in a nursing home. These were some of the targets of Iran’s missile attacks,” he said in a statement. “In moments like these, we are reminded of what’s truly at stake, and the values we are defending.”
The latest strikes mark a significant escalation in regional tensions, with Israel now vowing retaliatory action against Tehran’s leadership and infrastructure. As both nations trade firepower and rhetoric, fears of broader conflict continue to rise.
Written By Rodney Mbua
