- Volunteers and responders from Magen David Adom rushed to missile strike sites in Israeli cities
- Missile strikes hit Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Ness Ziona, wounding at least 23 civilians
- At least 50 missile impacts acknowledged since the morning barrage began on Sunday
In the immediate aftermath of Sunday morning's Iranian missile strikes on Israel, while sirens blared and residents took shelter, a different kind of mobilisation began in parallel. Volunteers and professional responders from Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel's national emergency medical service, have stepped up rescue work as Iranian missiles target key cities.
Ori Lazarovich, a coordinator with Magen David Adom, stood near the wreckage of a residential complex in Ramat Aviv in Tel Aviv, on Sunday afternoon and narrated how emergency workers respond to crisis situations.
"We have a building complex with around three buildings that were directly hit by a missile. Within minutes, we heard the loud booms from our stations and from our homes. While we have operational guidelines, we leave our buildings, exit our safe rooms, and rush to the scene as quickly as possible. We've evacuated more than 17 patients," Mr Lazarovich told NDTV.
The Israeli police reported impacts in at least three major cities, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Ness Ziona, after two waves of missile strikes began around 7:30 am local time. At least 23 civilians were wounded, two of them moderately, according to the MDA. The attacks left visible scars on residential buildings, public squares, and commercial shops.
"We are still searching and still working here, together with the Home Front Command, the police, and fire services, to make sure we have not missed anyone," Mr Lazarovich said.
Though Israel enforces strict military censorship on real-time reporting of missile impacts, it has acknowledged at least 50 direct hits since the morning barrage began. According to official military and civilian data, 25 people have died since the war began on June 13.
Mr Lazarovich said that Magen David Adom has been functioning at highest alert levels since the war's outbreak.
"When you hear a siren, enter a safe room immediately and stay there for at least 10 minutes. That's to make sure that even if there's a second barrage or residual shrapnel in the air, you remain protected," he told NDTV.
"At this particular site (Tel Aviv), we have had dozens of ambulances. We also have medical motorcycles and first responders using their own vehicles. Many of them live nearby and arrive within minutes.We've had teams here within seconds, literally two to three minutes from the moment of the impact. Dozens of units have been deployed to ensure we can respond regardless of how many patients there are," he explained.
Mr Lazarovich said most injuries on Sunday were minor, but stressed that more severe cases have been frequent since the war's onset.
"We have mostly seen minor injuries. But today, and over the past eight days, we have dealt with extremely severe cases as well. There have been patients with crush injuries, burns, smoke inhalation-everything in between. These are not small projectiles. We're talking about massive missiles, each carrying over 1,000 pounds of TNT, hitting densely populated residential areas," Mr Lazarovich told NDTV.
The Israeli military said the missiles were launched in two distinct waves. It also reported the interception of more than 450 incoming projectiles in the past nine days, alongside 1,000 drones.
Despite the multi-layered Israeli missile defence system, including Iron Dome, David's Sling, and Arrow, impact sites continue to emerge due to system limitations. The military admitted that "some weapons evade interception, either due to trajectory or timing." This has placed considerable stress on civilian emergency systems.
In Tel Aviv alone, MDA has responded to over 60 separate impact-related alerts in the last week, many of them in high-density neighbourhoods.
