A fallen projectile after Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel in response to the killings of Lebanese Hezbollah leader Nasrallah and other Iran-backed operatives in the occupied West Bank on October 1, 2024.
Falling shrapnel from an Iranian missile fired at Israel killed a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the local governor told AFP.
“A Palestinian worker in Jericho was killed when pieces of a rocket fell from the sky and hit him,” Jericho governor Hussein Hamayel told AFP.
Palestinian media reports indicate that 37-year-old Sameh al-Asali, a labourer originally from Jabalia in the Gaza Strip, was killed by shrapnel near occupied West Bank’s Jericho.
Four other Palestinians were also injured by shrapnel from the same missile attack.
According to social media reports, which include an image of his ID, al-Asali was a father of three and one of the many Palestinian workers from Gaza with an Israeli work permit who were stranded in Israel on October 7, seeking refuge in the West Bank.
Images and videos circulating online depict a long fragment of the missile lying next to al-Asali’s body, which was covered with a sheet.
Reports also confirmed that impacts from the missile were felt in other areas of the West Bank.
Tehran said the attack on Tuesday — which took place as Israel said it was mounting a ground offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon — was in response to the killings of Iran-backed leaders.
It was the second time Iran has directly attacked Israel, after a missile and drone attack in April in retaliation for a deadly Israeli air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
Israel vowed to retaliate in the wake of Iran’s attack.
“This attack will have consequences. We have plans, and we will operate at the place and time we decide,” said Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.