For the past few weeks Israelis have been living life on a knife edge as they anxiously waited to find out whether or not the US would attack Iran – and whether an enraged Tehran would retaliate against them.
Today, soon after 8am, that seemingly interminable wait came to an end as mobile phones across the country pinged with an ominous alert from the Home Command warning recipients to be prepared.
Israel awoke on this cool but sunny Shabbat morning to discover that not only had the US attacked Iran but that Israel had been actively involved in targeting the world’s biggest sponsor of terrorism too.
Now, less than nine months after Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, which left 28 dead and some 3,000 more people injured, Israelis have once again found themselves rushing to take cover in their safe rooms and bomb shelters.
Adi, a 38-year-old lawyer and mother of three young children who lives in a suburb east of Tel Aviv, told the JC there has been a “nerve-wracking expectation” of an attack after “it became clear that the negotiations between the US and Iran were not maturing into an agreement”.
She said: “For weeks now, rumours have been circulating here every evening: ‘tonight is the night’, ‘they say Trump will attack Iran tomorrow’, ‘let's see if Shabbat passes without surprises and we'll make plans for next week’.”
The situation has left her feeling powerless. “What can we do about it anyway? Nothing. Sit in the mamad [shelter] and hope that a missile doesn't hit directly and we don't end up in the statistics. Yesterday I even told my cousin that I don't believe that something will happen.
“And this morning I woke up to the alarm. Again, seeing the kids scared to the core, again the questions: ‘Is there a war? Will there be many alarms? Why do they constantly want to harm us? Why only us?’
“And again trying to explain and instil in them the little confidence I still have left to give. Unfortunately, my children are already used to these runs to the mamad. My middle one has been running to our mamad for most of his life and the youngest was born into the alarms.
“The mamad is already organised with food and medicine for emergencies and full of games. War is already our routine, my children no longer remember what it is like without war.”
A large proportion of Tel Aviv residents have had to take cover in the city’s large municipal bomb shelters, as the majority of the city’s old buildings are not equipped with adequate protection.
At one shelter in the north of the city, a short stroll from the beach and close to Dizengoff Street, residents hunkered down in their hundreds. Some came brandishing foldaway chairs and yoga mats, while others came with nothing besides the clothes - or pyjamas - on their backs. The looks on their faces were not of panic but resignation. “Yalla,” they seemed to say. “Here we go again.”
The cavernous shelter, equipped with little more than basic bathroom facilities, was filled with everyone from pensioners to young couples with newborn babies.
The majority sat with their eyes fixed on their phones, even though reception is extremely limited. As adults waited for the Home Command to issue the green light to leave, children sat calmly as they made the most of unlimited screen time.
The many dogs sat mostly calmly, although the occasional outburst of barking drowned out the sound of sirens – and the subsequent interception of missiles - outside.
Some 70,000 reservists have been called up for duty. Among them is Noa (not her real name), a 26-year-old from Jerusalem serving with the Home Front Command’s search and rescue unit.
She said: “I was called up at around 9am to northern Israel. There were rumours for a while that we may be called up, but nothing concrete. We were told to always be on standby so we knew it would happen at some point but I did not think it would happen today.”
Noa was last released from reserves two weeks ago so still had a bag of belongings ready.
“There is always the initial feeling of, ‘Oh no not again’ but in situations like these I am always proud to put my uniform back on and in the event do the work we are trained to do,” she said.
Dani, who lives in Whetstone, north London, has spent the last few days visiting friends and family in Herzeliya. “We were very aware that at any time during our trip the war could commence,” she told the JC, adding that she packed enough provisions for the possibility of a delayed return.
“We woke up at 8.15 this morning with our phones shrieking the warning alarm from Home Command and we walked down to the shelter in our building to wait. The building’s shelter is open to anyone on the beach or roads outside so when the alerts go off anyone from the public and on the beach can come in.”
She said that while lots of people are in and out of the shelter, there’s a “feeling of calm” as Israelis are so familiar with the process.
“Working out when one can leave the shelter safely has been the only difficulty so far. I feel grateful that Israel has unfortunately had to develop all of the alarms that alert us and just hoping that there are few injuries and that our dear IDF and IAF come back safely.”
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