A man died and another was seriously wounded by falling shrapnel in central Israel as Iran fired missiles, with first responders reporting civilian casualties.

YEHUD: Falling shrapnel killed one man and seriously wounded another in central Israel. The incident occurred as blasts rocked the area after the military reported missile fire from Iran.

Paramedics said the victim was working on a building site in a town just north of Israel’s main airport. A barrage of shrapnel tore through the location.

An AFP journalist at the scene saw a newly installed escalator riddled with impact holes. Emergency workers said the damage was caused by munitions.

“After performing resuscitation efforts, we had to pronounce the death of a man, approximately 40 years old,” the Magen David Adom emergency response organisation said. Another man was seriously injured and evacuated to hospital for treatment.

“It was a difficult scene,” MDA paramedic Liz Goral was quoted as saying. “The two casualties were lying unconscious and suffering from severe shrapnel injuries to their bodies.”

Israel’s main opposition leader Yair Lapid told journalists at the scene that Tehran was “targeting civilians on purpose”. He has backed the government on the war with Iran.

“Do you see any military facilities around you?” he said. “What they’re trying to do is to move this war from a war between armies to a war against civilians.”

First responders say 11 people have been killed and dozens injured in Israel since Iran began firing missiles. The attacks are in retaliation for joint US-Israeli strikes.

 The Sun Malaysia