Residents of the Pardes Katz neighborhood in Bnei Brak are sharing a powerful story of Hashgocha and a narrowly averted tragedy after an Iranian missile struck a local school building in the early hours of Monday morning, Matzav.com has learned.
The missile made a direct hit on the Beis Yaakov Otzar HaChaim school, a mosad for Sephardic girls in the area, reducing it to rubble. Just days ago, the building had been bustling with hundreds of students. Recently renovated, the school had been fully operational until the missile strike.
According to accounts from locals, the shelter in the school had been meticulously prepared for emergency use only hours earlier by devoted staff members who came in the evening to clean and arrange it. Once they finished, they locked the shelter and handed the key to a neighbor who lives adjacent to the building.
At 4:15 a.m., an air raid siren blared across the city, waking residents and sending them scrambling for cover, as instructed by Home Front Command. Many residents who live near the school ran to the designated shelter—only to find it locked.
With no time to spare, they quickly turned back and rushed to alternate nearby shelters. Moments later, the missile struck the school with a massive explosion, destroying the entire structure and damaging nearby buildings. Windows shattered, and debris was scattered in all directions.
In a chilling twist, it was revealed that the neighbor who had the shelter key had not woken up during the siren. Had the shelter been unlocked and used, it could have ended in unspeakable tragedy. Although the shelter itself remained structurally intact, the surrounding area was strewn with wreckage and hazardous debris that would have made any rescue operation extremely difficult.
“The missile landed in the front section of the building,” one resident explained. “Had it hit the rear, where the shelter is located, we might have faced a devastating loss of life.”
Now standing in the shadow of the destroyed school, residents are overwhelmed by the clear string of miracles that unfolded. “Chasdei Hashem ki lo samnu ki lo chalu rachamav. It is only by Hashem’s mercy that we were not harmed,” one neighbor said emotionally. “We hope the day comes soon when we can return to this building that our daughters loved so dearly.”
While the building lies in ruins, the story of its locked shelter—an obstacle that turned out to be a brocha—continues to serve as a moving reminder of Hashem’s protection in the face of danger.
{Matzav.com Israel}