JERUSALEM — Tears and grief filled Hadassah Hospital on Monday as President Isaac Herzog met with Penina Cohen, a Beit Shemesh woman who survived a deadly Iranian missile strike that tore through a synagogue and nearby homes, killing nine civilians, including her husband and mother-in-law.

Cohen had sought shelter with her children when the missile struck. “We were sitting there and suddenly it happened. My young son was beside me and was also injured… I was right beneath the hole that was torn open, and I have no explanation for how we were not more seriously hurt. We experienced a great miracle,” she said, her voice trembling.

Among the dead were her husband, Yossi Cohen, and her mother-in-law, Bruria Gloria Cohen. Her son, who had been set to celebrate his bar mitzvah Monday, survived but remains shaken by the tragedy. “My children and I survived, but sadly, my husband and my mother-in-law, who was sitting next to me, were murdered,” she said. “Despite all the pain, I feel that we were under great protection.”

Rescue crews continue to comb the rubble in Beit Shemesh, searching for any remaining victims as the city reels from one of its deadliest attacks in recent memory.

״במקום שהבן שלי יחגוג היום בר מצווה – הוא קובר את אבא שלו״.

פנינה כהן, שאיבדה את בעלה יוסף ואת חמותה בלוריה, ובנה והיא נפצעו פצעים מורכבים מנפילת הטיל האיראני במקלט בבית שמש, שיתפה אותנו ליד מיטתה בבית החולים כיצד יום שהיה אמור להיות מלא שמחה, הפך ליום של אבל ואובדן נורא.

זהו… pic.twitter.com/adkgfa1mfv

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) March 2, 2026