A senior IDF Home Front Command official said on Sunday that the Iranian ballistic missile strike was the worst civilian strike of the war, involving a large amount of destruction and a warhead containing hundreds of kilograms of explosives.

The Bat Yam building had a floor-wide safe area and an underground bomb shelter.

Anyone in those areas was not harmed, said the senior IDF Home Front Command official.

Those who were harmed, he noted, were not in any of the safe areas.

There are under 10 people currently missing, said the official. 

The aftermath of ruins in central Israel following direct Iranian missile impacts, June 15, 2025 (credit: Flash90/Yossi Aloni)
The aftermath of ruins in central Israel following direct Iranian missile impacts, June 15, 2025 (credit: Flash90/Yossi Aloni)
The IDF senior home front official also said that they know who they are looking for and which apartments they were in when the Iranian strike hit.

Next, the official confirmed that part of the building has collapsed and that they are reviewing the status of the rest of the building, which remains standing.

Arriving to the site was complex, had to break into homes 

According to the IDF official, it was complex even to arrive at the site, and in some spots they had to break into houses or through walls or partially collapsed areas.

Already, he said the IDF has found several people who had been categorized as missing or had been trapped, some whom it turned out were alive and some who were not.

Further, he said the IDF has a large number of forces at the Bat Yam location, as well as in Rehovot, Tamra, and other sites..

The IDF official noted that they had saved a Rehovot individual who had been trapped, but once rescued, was able to survive.