"A Thai agricultural worker has reportedly been killed and another injured after being struck by shrapnel from an Iranian missile in central Israel, as tensions in the region continue to escalate. The incident occurred on Wednesday night in the Edenim area, where the victim was working outdoors during a barrage and was unable to reach shelter in time. Emergency responders from Magen David Adom pronounced him dead at the scene. Footage shows response teams gathering around the damaged farm buildings, with visible holes in the roofs and debris scattered across the site. "Around midnight we received a call about a direct hit on a shed... We arrived at the scene quickly. Central District Police officers and Border Police fighters noticed a person receiving medical treatment, who was subsequently pronounced dead," explained an Israeli police officer. He added that the victim was not in a protected space at the time of the incident. “I remind you here and we echo this time and time again, there is immense importance to following the Home Front Command's directives. They save lives in practice,” he noted. Police believe the strike may have involved cluster munitions, with bomb disposal teams continuing to examine the area. “First of all, from the bottom of our hearts, we share in the sorrow of the family and the community here. It is truly very unfortunate that an agricultural worker from Thailand who came here to earn an honest living arrives, and it is really sad that he was hit by a direct strike from shrapnel, said regional council head Oshrat Gani Gonen. Residents in the area said the incident had heightened fears. “It’s scary, because it feels now that everything is closer to home, that no one in the family is immune,” said one local. Tensions in the Middle East escalated after the United States and Israel launched joint military operations against Iran on 28 February, while diplomatic talks had been underway aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes. Tehran responded by launching strikes targeting Israeli territory and US military sites across the region, with explosions reported in several Gulf countries. During the escalation, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed and later succeeded by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei. The conflict further widened after Hezbollah launched strikes on Israel, saying they were carried out in retaliation for Khamenei’s assassination."