During the Iranian missile attack on Israel yesterday, a Palestinian man was killed in the West Bank town of Nu’eima near Jericho after the falling fuselage of an intercepted missile hit him. Sameh Asli, a 37-year-old Palestinian from Jabalia in Gaza, has so been the only documented fatality from Iran’s attack on Israel.
In a statement, the Palestinian Civil Defense said: “fatality in Jericho and material damage caused by the falling rocket and shrapnel.”
Further confirming the identity of the deceased Jericho governor Hussein Hamayel said: “A Palestinian worker in Jericho was killed when pieces of a rocket fell from the sky and hit him.”
In addition, 4 Palestinians have been reported injured by shrapnel from the same rocket. Reports say that Sameh Al-Asali, a father of three, was one of hundreds of Gazan labourers with Israeli work permits who became stranded in Israel on the 7th of October during the Hamas onslaught against Israel and sought refuge in the West Bank.
As per the visuals emerging on social media, a meter-long missile piece close to al-Asali’s body is seen lying on the ground and covered by a sheet.
🚨BREAKING: An Iranian missile killed a Palestinian man in Jericho, West Bank—identified as Sameh Al Asali, originally from Gaza pic.twitter.com/ITfUcP3pK8
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) October 1, 2024
A video recorded the moment the Palestinian man was killed instantaneously by wayward shrapnel from one of the Iranian rockets fired into Israel on Tuesday. The video shows the man strolling around on a street in Nu’eima village, as an enormous chunk of an Iranian missile fell from the sky. The piece of shrapnel crashed directly on top of Sameh al-Asali resulting in his instant death.
#Palestinian man Sameh Al Asali was killed after being hit by fuselage of an Iranian missile that landed in Jericho, West Bank. He was originally from #Gaza. pic.twitter.com/rj0V0kDWUh
— SAMRIBackup (@SamriBackup) October 1, 2024
Meanwhile, the Israeli emergency services said that just two persons were slightly injured by shrapnel in Tel Aviv during the Iranian missile attack, while several more were treated for minor injuries.
As reported earlier, on 1st October, Iran launched several ballistic missiles targeting Israel as the Middle-East conflict worsens. The Israeli civilians had rushed to bomb shelters after sirens went off in the entire country following the large-scale ballistic missile launches by Iran. As per the latest reports, 181 missiles were launched by Iran in the strike. Israel Defense Forces said that it intercepted “a large number” of them using the Iron Dome missile defence system. US forces also helped in shooting down many of the missiles.
However, due to the large number of missiles launched at the same time, the system was overwhelmed and many missiles hit locations in Israel, especially in central and southern Israel. As all the residents were rushed to bomb shelters, there were no significant casualties in the attack.
Earlier, on Monday, Israel launched “targeted ground raids” at Iran-backed proxy Hezbollah’s targets across several villages of southern Lebanon. This came just days after Hezbollah Chief Hasan Nasrallah was killed by Israel Defense Forces in an attack on his bunker. Israeli Ground attacks in Lebanon were backed by airstrikes and artillery launches in places close to Israel’s northern border.
