175 injured in Iranian ballistic missile attacks on Dimona, Arad after air defenses fail to intercept

Israeli authorities announced on Sunday morning that 175 people were injured from two Iranian ballistic missile attacks in the southern cities of Dimona and Arad on Saturday night. 

In Arad, 115 people were injured after a ballistic missile struck an apartment complex. The missile fell between several apartment buildings, leading to extensive damage to around 20 buildings, including blown-out walls and windows. 

“This was a very serious scene,” Magen David Adom (MDA) EMT Yakir Talker said. “We arrived with large numbers of ambulances, mobile intensive care units, and MDA medicycles. We saw many patients with varying degrees of injury as a result of a missile impact.” 

He also said that MDA teams “immediately began establishing a casualty concentration point, triaged the patients according to the severity of their injuries, and provided life-saving medical treatment.” 

Southern District Commander Major Haim Boublil said the damage was extensive.

“There is significant damage to at least three buildings,” Boublil said. “Some are in danger of collapsing. There is another area of ​​interception debris. We evacuated children in serious condition.” 

“The impact was in the center of the buildings,” he added. “It is a miracle that it did not hit the building.” 

An eyewitness in a protected area, dozens of meters from the scene, told Channel 12 News the impact came while the alarm was still sounding. 

“We received advance warning, but immediately after that, when the alarm sounded, the missile fell,” he explained. 

⚠️ Tonight, the Iranian regime unleashed a devastating hail of missiles on southern Israel, purposefully striking civilians in Arad and Dimona.

Over 100 people, including many children and elderly, inured.

This is a blatant war crime. Pure terrorism. Yet, world is silent! pic.twitter.com/EBLLrxuJ9t

— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) March 22, 2026

Many of the apartment buildings in Arad were older buildings. On Sunday morning, Arad Mayor Yair Maayan said that around 100-150 families that lived in the affected neighborhood would be forced to evacuate. He stated that three buildings are scheduled for demolition and that the city plans to construct new apartments in the area.

Regarding the wounded, Maayan said that “everyone who was in the shelter was not hurt, and most of the residents entered the safe room – but unfortunately some did not.” 

Just a couple of hours earlier, another Iranian ballistic missile struck Dimona, injuring over 50 people, including a 12-year-old boy, who did not reach the bomb shelter before the missile struck. 

The condition of a young boy wounded by an Iranian ballistic missile impact in Dimona has worsened, medical officials say.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it treated a total of 23 people who were injured by the missile impact, including the boy and a woman in her 30s… pic.twitter.com/MiNjF2TdGn

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 21, 2026

The injured were taken to Soroka Medical Center in nearby Beersheva. The hospital declared the incident a mass casualty event. Nine of those treated from Arad were listed in serious condition, including a 5-year-old girl, while two of the injured from Dimona were in serious condition, including the 12-year-old boy. 

Later on Saturday night, the Israeli Ministry of Health announced it had begun transferring some of the wounded to other hospitals to reduce the strain on Soroka. 

Like in Arad, several Dimona residents said that the missile impact came before they had time to enter bomb shelters. 

In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “This has been a very difficult evening in the battle for our future.” 

“A short while ago, I spoke with the mayor of Arad, Yair Maayan, and asked to convey our prayers for the well-being of the wounded on behalf of all the citizens of Israel,” Netanyahu stated.

IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin said the military is investigating why air defense systems did not intercept the two missiles, despite launching at least two interceptors. 

“The air defense systems were activated but did not intercept the missile,” Defrin wrote on social media. “We will investigate the incident and learn from it.” 

Defrin added, “This is not a matter of special or unusual weaponry,” addressing rumors that Iran had deployed a new type of ballistic missile. 

Iranian state media said the attacks on Arad and Dimona were targeting Israel’s Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center, located around 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Dimona, and 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) from Arad. Iran said the attacks were in retaliation for a U.S. strike on Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility earlier on Saturday. 

The Shimon Peres facility is believed to house Israel’s nuclear weapons program, though the government has never officially confirmed it.