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Three Palestinian women were killed by falling missile fragments in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday night, becoming the first casualties of the US-Israeli war with Iran in the territory.
Thirteen other women were injured, two critically, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said. The missile fragments struck a caravan which was being used as a beauty salon in Beit Awwa, near Hebron, that witnesses said was busy ahead of the Eid holiday.
The dead were identified as Mais Ghazi Masalmeh, 17, Sahira Rizq Masalmeh, 50, and Amal Sobhi Abdel Karim Matawa’ Masalmeh, 36, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Missile fragments have frequently fallen in the West Bank, from Iranian missiles and Israeli interceptor rockets, since the latest US-Israel war with Iran began on February 28. The Palestinian territory does not have the vast array of shelters and warning sirens that exist in Israel and Israeli West Bank settlements.
Palestinian authorities say they have responded to a number projectile fragments since the beginning of the war, and have called on residents to take cover as best as they can during attacks.
Shortly after the fatal incident, a Thai agricultural worker in his 20s was killed by a missile strike in central Israel, another foreign worker injured. Several people were injured in the Palestinian-Israeli town of Jaljulia. while major damage was recorded in Tel Aviv when a projectile hit an empty residential building.
All four who lost their lives on Wednesday night are said to have been killed by shrapnel from Iranian cluster munitions, which Tehran has been using increasingly throughout the course of the war, creating new difficulties for Israeli interception efforts.
A man from Gaza was killed by falling missile fragments in the West Bank city of Jericho during the 12-day war last June.
