Haifa Death Toll Reaches Four as Eighteen-Hour Rescue Operation Navigates Unexploded Warhead Risk

Rescue teams recover four victims in Haifa after an Iranian missile hit. Read about the unexploded warhead threat and new cluster attacks on central Israel.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 6, 2026, 6:51 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from The Times of Israel

The Fatal Toll of the Haifa Residential Strike

A grueling search-and-rescue operation in Haifa concluded on Monday with the recovery of four deceased residents from the ruins of a collapsed apartment complex. The victims—a man and woman in their 80s, a man in his 40s, and a 35-year-old woman—were located in the lower levels of the building near a stairwell. According to the Home Front Command, none of the deceased were in a reinforced bomb safe room at the time of the impact. The strike also left an 82-year-old man in serious condition, along with three others, including a 10-month-old infant, who sustained varying degrees of injury.

Technical Failure and the Unexploded Warhead Threat

An investigation by the Israeli Air Force revealed that the ballistic missile was not intercepted because it broke apart mid-air, causing interceptors to miss as the trajectory shifted. While the kinetic energy of the impact was sufficient to collapse several floors, the missile’s massive warhead—estimated to contain several hundred kilograms of explosives—failed to detonate. Military officials noted that had the warhead exploded, the entire building and surrounding neighborhood would likely have been leveled. Police sappers and specialized units worked for 18 hours to stabilize the site and extract victims while managing the persistent threat of a secondary blast.

The Complexity of Deep-Rubble Extraction

Senior Home Front Command officers characterized the mission as one of the "most complex" in the recent campaign. To reach the victims, who were trapped in an inner room at the base of a hillside structure, rescuers were forced to dig several tunnels through the unstable debris. The operation was conducted with extreme caution, balancing the need for speed under the assumption that survivors might be trapped with the "necessary precautions" required to navigate unexploded ordnance. Heavy machinery was used to clear trees and create access points as the building remained at serious risk of total collapse throughout the day.