“At this time, there are 11 missing persons with whom contact has not yet been established,” the statement said, adding that search operations were ongoing.

Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency services also said EMTs and paramedics had pronounced nine people dead.

Dozens of Israeli rescue personnel were deployed to the site of the impact, and an AFP photographer saw teams removing a body from the rubble of the building that bore the brunt of the missile strike.

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“They are bringing all kinds of equipment to try to locate people,” said another AFP photographer at the scene of the attack.

“Apparently, there are still people underneath,” he added, as rescue teams continued their search.

The US and Israel launched a wave of strikes against Iran on Saturday, killing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and  sparking a rapid retaliation from Tehran which continued into Sunday.

During the previous 12-day war between Israel and Iran last June, nine people were killed in an Iranian missile strike in the city of Bat Yam, close to Tel Aviv.

Photographs from Beit Shemesh on Sunday showed a house destroyed by the blast, its roof reduced to mangled concrete and twisted iron bars.

“When I arrived, I saw a terrible scene,” Yehuda Shlomo, an MDA paramedic, said in a statement.

“I saw heavy structural damage, smoke in the air, and a great deal of chaos, with dozens of frightened casualties emerging from damaged buildings.”