Paramedics said the victim was working on a building site in a town just north of Israel’s main airport when a barrage of shrapnel tore through the location.

An AFP journalist at the scene saw a newly installed escalator riddled with impact holes that emergency workers said were caused by munitions.

“After performing resuscitation efforts, we had to pronounce the death of a man, approximately 40 years old,” the Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency response organisation said in a statement.

Another man was seriously injured and evacuated to hospital for treatment, the rescuers added.

“It was a difficult scene. The two casualties were lying unconscious and suffering from severe shrapnel injuries to their bodies,” MDA paramedic Liz Goral was quoted as saying by her organisation.

Israel’s main opposition leader Yair Lapid, who has backed the government on the war with Iran, told journalists at the scene that Tehran was “targeting civilians on purpose”.

“Do you see any military facilities around you?” he said. “What they’re trying to do is to move this war from a war between armies to a war against civilians.”

First responders say 11 people have been killed and dozens injured in Israel since Iran began firing missiles at the country in retaliation for joint US-Israeli strikes.

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