Beersheba Hit by Iranian Missile Moments Before Ceasefire—Survivors Describe Chaos and Resolve

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, residents of Beersheba were jolted awake by urgent alerts on their phones: “Extreme alert.” Moments later, air raid sirens wailed through the city as Iran launched a missile strike on southern Israel—just minutes before a scheduled ceasefire was to begin.

Merav Manay and her family rushed to their reinforced safe room, a common feature in Israeli homes designed to withstand rocket attacks. The moment the missile struck nearby, the building trembled.

"It was so strong that we thought it was the end," Merav recounted. When the shaking stopped, she discovered their windows shattered but, miraculously, her family was unharmed.

Just across the street, a residential block was hit directly. The blast caused part of the building to collapse, killing four residents—despite them being in designated safe rooms. Emergency responders and Israeli military teams quickly arrived on the scene to rescue survivors and begin recovery efforts.

"The missile tore through everything," one eyewitness told local media. Volunteers and neighbors began clearing glass and debris from the streets. “I hope this is the end,” said one local man surveying the destruction.

Despite both Israel and Iran confirming the ceasefire after the strike, tensions remained high as each side accused the other of breaking the agreement. For Beersheba’s shaken residents, the air was thick with doubt.

Oren Cohen, 45, stood in the rubble-strewn yard of his home as volunteers arrived to help with cleanup. He had been inside with his wife and three children—ages eight, 12, and 15—when the explosion rocked their neighborhood.

“I couldn’t even bring myself to look at the damage across the street,” he said. “All I could think about was protecting my kids.” A blast-resistant window had blown open from the force of the impact.

Despite the horror, Oren expressed support for Israel's earlier strikes on Iran that escalated into a 12-day conflict. “I think we had no other choice,” he said. “We do what we have to do to protect ourselves.”

Like many, he was skeptical that the ceasefire would hold, but trusted Israeli leadership to know when the mission was complete.

Merav, stepping out of her home for the first time that day, echoed similar sentiments. “It would have happened sooner or later,” she said. “We were prepared for this.”

As Beersheba begins to rebuild, its people remain resilient—caught between fear of what’s next and hope that the worst is over.