Jerusalem: Israel’s largest oil refinery, operated by Bazan, has been completely shut down following a missile strike from Iran that caused significant damage at the Haifa Port facility. The pre-dawn attack on Monday night resulted in fires at the strategic complex, with video footage showing visible flames and firefighting teams struggling to control the blaze. Tragically, three employees of the company lost their lives in the incident.
According to a report to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Bazan stated that the missile attack severely damaged the power station responsible for part of the refinery’s steam and electricity supply, along with other areas of the facility. Currently, all refinery and subsidiary operations have been halted while the company assesses the extent of the damage and plans its next steps.
This attack occurs amid a four-day deadly conflict between Iran and Israel, which has already claimed the lives of at least 244 people in Iran and 24 in Israel. The escalation began after Israel launched surprise airstrikes into Iran on Friday, followed by Iran’s retaliatory missile attacks.
On Monday morning, Iran launched another missile barrage targeting Israel, resulting in at least eight deaths and dozens of injuries. The assault triggered air raid sirens across Israel, and black smoke was seen rising above Haifa, a major northern coastal city. Eyewitness accounts described multiple explosions across different parts of the country.
In Petah Tikva, a city east of Tel Aviv, four fatalities were reported after a missile struck a residential building. Local officials confirmed the deaths and stated that hundreds of residents from the impacted structure and nearby buildings were evacuated. Photos from the scene showed extensive blast damage to multi-story buildings and scattered debris.