Beit Shemesh, Israel - An Iranian missile attack on Sunday in the central Israeli city of Beit Shemesh killed at least nine people and left 11 missing, police said, in the deadliest strike in the country since the war began.
"So far, more than 45 injured people in varying degrees of severity have been evacuated, and the bodies of nine fatalities have been recovered," police said in a statement.
"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 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.
"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.
Photographs from Beit Shemesh showed a house destroyed by the blast, its roof reduced to mangled concrete and twisted iron bars.
UPDATE, March 1, 4:39 PM ET: Six injured in missile attack on Jerusalem
Israel's Magen David Adom emergency services said they were treating six people with injuries in the Jerusalem area on Sunday after the latest salvo of missiles fired from Iran.
"In the Jerusalem region, MDA EMTs and paramedics are providing medical treatment to a man approximately 50 years old in moderate condition, and 5 individuals in mild condition," an MDA statement said.
In a separate statement, Israeli police said searches were being conducted in the Jerusalem area "following reports of interceptor fragments from munitions falling in several locations."
It followed a series of loud blasts heard above the city by AFP journalists, after the Israeli military said it had detected missiles launched from Iran.
UPDATE, March 1, 3:20 PM ET: US says Revolutionary Guard headquarters have been destroyed
The US military announced Sunday it had destroyed the headquarters of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard force.
"America has the most powerful military on earth, and the IRGC no longer has a headquarters," the US Central Command said in a statement.
"The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) killed more than 1,000 Americans over the past 47 years. Yesterday, a large-scale U.S. strike cut off the head of the snake," CENTCOM said.
UPDATE, March 1, 2:40 PM ET: Iranian hospital and state television targeted in latest strikes
Iranian news agency ISNA reported that Gandhi hospital in northern Tehran was targeted on Sunday by strikes as a US-Israeli air campaign against Iran continued.
"Tehran's Gandhi hospital was attacked by Zionist-American air strikes," ISNA reported, while the Fars and Mizan agencies published a video, presented as being from inside the facility, showing debris on the floor among wheelchairs.
Iranian state television also said on Sunday that it had been targeted by strikes after a series of powerful blasts rattled Tehran, though it was not knocked off the air.
"The technical team is assessing the damage," said the broadcaster, which was also targeted during Iran's 12-war with Israel in June.