TEL AVIV, Israel — Hours after the U.S. struck three Iranian nuclear sites, Iran launched more than 40 missiles toward Israel on Sunday, wounding 23 people and destroying apartment buildings and homes in three cities.
At an impact site in Tel Aviv, the blast had sheared off the face of a multistory residential building and damaged several others — including a nursing home — in a radius of hundreds of meters (yards). But few people were wounded, as many residents had been evacuated and others made it to bomb shelters.
Deputy Mayor Haim Goren, who assisted at the scene, said it was nevertheless “miraculous” that more people were not hurt. Relatives and health aides helped residents — many with wheelchairs or walkers — to leave the nursing home, where windows were blown out up to the top on the 11th floor.
‘’It’s like a typhoon came through my apartment,’’ said Ofer Berger, who lives near the impact site on the seventh floor of a high-rise. ‘’All of the apartments in this area are destroyed,’’ he said.
Emergency services said one person was moderately wounded by shrapnel in Sunday’s missile barrage while dozens of others were lightly injured.
Berger said he hoped the war with Iran would end soon. ‘’Most of the tit-for-tat strikes like this end with a lot of tears,’’ he said.
Residents sat with their pets and suitcases outside the damaged buildings. One person sat next to a shopping cart filled with Buddha statues and a child’s bicycle.
Families gathered what they could and stepped gingerly around piles of glass and twisted metal. Dozens of volunteers from an organization called ‘’One Heart’’ showed up to help residents salvage their belongings.