Tax Authority Estimates Iran's Ballistic Missile Attack Caused $53 Million in Damage

Israel's Tax Authority issued an initial estimate on Sunday of the monetary damage caused to private property in Israel by Iran's ballistic missile attack on October 1st, saying it came to between NIS 150 million to NIS 200 million ($40 million to $53 million). The estimate is derived from the roughly 2,500 claims filed by property holders, including 2,200 claims that damage was done to buildings, while the rest of the damage was done to cars and other physical structures.

20 of the 200 ballistic missiles Iran fired at Israel on October 1st were intercepted by US, British, and Jordanian air forces outside Israel's air space. Another 180 penetrated Israeli air space and a handful of these missiles evaded Israeli air defense systems and managed to deliver their warheads to the ground. But plenty of debris from intercepted missiles also hit the ground, and this debris caused damage, but not as much as would have been caused had all the warheads exploded on the ground.

According to the Tax Authority, around NIS 1.5 billion in compensation has been paid out to civilians who have suffered property damage from enemy fire since this war began. It estimates that at least another NIS 1 billion in compensation will have to be paid out to residents of northern communities when they return to their homes and start assessing the damage done to their communities by Hezbollah anti-tank missiles, drones, and rockets, as well as fires that were started by rockets that landed and exploded in open areas.