The four murdered victims of an Iranian ballistic missile that struck an apartment building in the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Sunday have been identified as all being members of one family.

The victims were identified as Vladimir Gershovitz, 73 hy”d, his wife Lena Ostrovsky Gershovitz hy”d, 68, their son Dimitri “Dima” Gershovitz hy”d, 42, and Dima’s wife Lucille-Jane Gershovitz, 29.

Dima and Lucille-Jane had driven up from their home in Herzliya that same day to escort Vladimir home after an extended hospital stay, arriving just hours before the missile struck.

“Dima managed to bring Vladimir back from the hospital, and, unfortunately, the missile hit the residence, killing the four of them,” a family friend recounted. “All the floors collapsed on the first floor where they lived.”

The family did not have time to reach the building’s shelter before the strike. The warhead did not detonate on impact, but the kinetic force of the missile caused multiple floors to collapse, burying all four beneath the rubble. An Israeli Air Force investigation found the missile was not intercepted because it broke apart mid-flight.

Four others in the building were wounded, including an 82-year-old man left in serious condition who underwent surgery and remained sedated and ventilated as of Monday. A 10-month-old baby sustained a head injury and was listed in light condition.

President Isaac Herzog offered condolences on X, calling the Gershovitz’s “a wonderful family that was wiped out in an instant by a criminal Iranian missile.” Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who said he grew up minutes from the Gershovitz home, wrote: “It’s hard to grasp how the complete lives of four people were simply obliterated in an instant.”

The strike brings to 20 the number of Israeli civilians and foreign nationals killed in Iranian ballistic missile attacks since the war began February 28. More than 500 ballistic missiles have been launched from Iran at Israel since the start of the conflict.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)