UNDER ASSAULT

7-Year-Old Bedouin Girl ‘Severely’ Injured in Iran Attack on Israel

The child was reportedly struck in the head by flying shrapnel and knocked unconscious before being rushed to the hospital.

A 7-year-old Bedouin girl suffered severe injuries when she was struck by shrapnel from an interceptor missile during Iran’s attacks on Israel on Saturday night. The girl remained in critical condition at Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheba on Sunday, The Times of Israel reported, and is the only person in the country seriously injured during the attacks. According to Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency service, the girl suffered a head wound when debris from an interceptor missile fell directly on her family’s house, which is in one of the Bedouin villages in the southern Negev region. The girl was then rushed to Soroka for treatment, where several others have been treated for minor injuries sustained from falling shrapnel or from racing to protected areas, the hospital said. While Israel opened all of its shelters and advised civilians to seek cover there during the attacks, the unrecognized Bedouin villages largely lack the same infrastructure. The girl was sleeping in her house at the time of the attack and subsequent injury, the MDA said.

Editor’s note: this article has been updated after conflicting news reports about the age and sex of the child who was injured by shrapnel.