Three Palestinian women killed during Iranian missile attack in West Bank 

Three Palestinian women were killed when debris or possibly a munition from an Iranian missile fell on a women’s hair salon in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent and news reports.

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) official news agency Wafa said the three women were killed when the salon in the town of Beit Awwa, southwest of Hebron, was hit late on Wednesday by fragments of an Iranian missile.

Thirteen others were wounded in the incident, including one person who was reported to be in critical condition, according to reports.

Wafa said the missile fragments, often the result of being shot out of the sky by Israeli air defences, hit the salon and that debris had fallen over other locations in the Hebron governorate.

Rory Challands, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Amman, Jordan, said Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank have suffered injuries and property damage resulting from previous Iranian air attacks, but no deaths.

“That has just changed tonight,” Challands said.

“From what we understand, a missile bomblet, one of these cluster munitions, sub-munitions, fell on a women’s hair salon there, which is what caused the deaths and the injuries,” he said.

The Palestinian Civil Defence, medics and explosives engineering teams with the PA’s Interior Ministry responded to the incident by treating survivors and securing the area, Wafa said, adding that warnings have been issued for local people to seek out secure areas during attacks and to keep clear of missile debris and remnants following attacks.

Also on Wednesday, a man described as a foreign worker was killed in Moshav Adanim in Israel’s Sharon area during a missile attack, while injuries were reported from missile shrapnel in nearby Arab-Israeli towns. An eight-storey building was also reported to be on fire following an impact in Tel Aviv, Challands added.

Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said the man killed in Moshav Adanim, located approximately 20km (12.4 miles) northeast of Tel Aviv, was found unconscious amid scattered metal debris and was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Iran has launched daily missile attacks towards Israel, Gulf countries and the wider Middle East since the conflict began 20 days ago, though there have been no indications that Tehran has intentionally targeted Palestinian areas under Israeli occupation.

While most Israelis have access to bomb shelters designed to withstand such attacks, Palestinians in the occupied territory largely lack comparable protection. Many rely on air raid sirens from nearby Israeli cities or settlements as their only warning of incoming fire.

At least 15 people have been killed in Israel since Israeli and US forces launched their war against Tehran on February 28, igniting a regional conflict which has resulted in at least 1,444 people killed in Iran and 18,551 injured, the country’s Ministry of Health said.