“The refuge was full”: the Israelis confront the unprecedented missile dams | Israeli-Iran conflict

Tel Aviv, Israel – For the fourth consecutive night, the missiles struck the Israeli cities. Iran’s reprisal strikes, triggered by Israeli attacksSeeing people take shelter in stairwells and bombs shelters while the extent of Iranian damage and rockets managing to penetrate one of the most sophisticated defense systems in the world have left many undergrowth.

Friday, Israel began its assault on Iran, targeting military and nuclear installations And kill security, intelligence and high -level soldiers as well as scientists. Israel’s attacks, which have also targeted residential areashave killed more than 224 people And wounded at least 1,481, according to the Iranian authorities. The government said most people killed and injured had been civilians.

In response, Iran has pulled missile dams towards Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities.

Hundreds of Iranian missiles have been launched since Friday, and the air defense systems of Israel, although robust, could not stop them all. While the number of missiles pulled by Iran seems to have dropped by night, the extent of the attacks continues to be unprecedented for the Israelis.

Central such as Aviv, Haifa, the scientific center of Rehovot and houses has been struck. At least 24 people in Israel were killed during strikes and hundreds of injured.

The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, source of national pride and the cornerstone of Israeli military research, was among the hardest. Its laboratories were torn apart, broken windows, and cables and reinforcement bars on the left.

“It is not only damage to buildings,” said Jenia Kerimov, 34, a doctoral candidate in biology who lives nearby. “These are years of research, equipment that we cannot easily replace, data that could be lost forever.”

She had been in a shelter at a bomb with a pâté of houses when the institute was struck. “We are supposed to help protect the country. But now even our work, our house, feels exposed. ”

The shelters across the country are packed. In older districts without bunkers, residents crowd in community security rooms. In Tel Aviv and Western Jerusalem, stairwells have become fortune chambers. The command of the Israeli army inner front has evacuated hundreds of people in hotels after buildings that have been affected were deemed uninhabitable.

‘No shelters in our building’

Yacov Shemesh, a retired social worker in Western Jerusalem, said his wife was sleeping on the stairs in their building since the start of the attacks.

“There is no shelter in our building,” said the 74 -year -old man. “I went on the roof Sunday evening to see what was going on. I saw a flash in the sky and then a boom. But I found nothing in the news. Maybe they (the state) do not want us to know how closer it is. “

The dam has triggered panic in a society for a long time in the form of a conflict – but where, so far, the destruction and the wars have been imposed elsewhere – in GazaJenin or southern Lebanon. Now, many Israelis are faced with destruction in their original cities for the first time.

In Tel Aviv, long lines meandered in the aisles of a grocery store. Although it was crowded, the atmosphere was smothered while customers tapped their phones, their faces tighten tight.

Gil Simchon, 38, a farmer near the Rama David air base, east of Haifa, stacked bottles of water in his arms.

“This is something to hear for decades about the Iranian threat,” he said, “but another to see it with your own eyes-to see Tel Aviv increases.”

Monday evening, he used a bomb shelter for the first time in his life.

Even the Kirya, the military seat of Israel in Tel Aviv, was struck although the damage was limited. Iran’s ability to reach such a fortified and symbolically vital target has deeply shaken a population raised on the reliability of its multilayer defense architecture.

While a large part of Israel is covered by the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow Defense SystemsThe officials admit that they were not designed for a saturation attack involving ballistic missiles with heavy warheads. “These are not Gaza House Rockets,” said an analyst on Israeli television. “These are battlefield weapons.”

On Saturday evening, the streets of Western Jerusalem were calm. One of the few lit areas was a gymnasium. Its owner made a gesture towards the staircase descending underground. “We are protected,” he said. Then with a smile, he added: “The gymmorters are crazy. If you train at night, the gym would be better to be open.”

Outside, the night air burst in tension. A sign of neon broke out against darkness. A small group gathered, eyes fixed on the sky. Moments earlier, sequences of light had passed over.

“They are heading elsewhere – Haifa, I think,” mumbled a young man. A few minutes later, the sirens groaned. The video quickly appeared online showing flames that burst out a gas installation near Haifa.

Initially, social media was flooded with missile impact sequences – some of the residential balconies, others from Dashcams. In the third night, several reports were published by those arrested for documented attacks while Israeli officials have warned foreign media against the rupture of a ban on disseminating such content, describing it as a security offense.

Meanwhile, the fears of power outages are increasing. In Tel Aviv, the drivers line up in the service stations, anxious to keep their tanks full. A father attached his children to the rear seat before rallying. His eyes passed towards the clouds, then the rear view mirror.

“Protect yourself and worsen things”

For some Israelis abroad, a feeling of helplessness has deepened. Eran, 37, who lives and works in New York, spoke to his elderly parents near the city of Beit Shemesh. “They went to shelters before, but this time, fear was different,” he said to Al Jazeera. “The refuge was full. When they returned home, they found pieces of interceptors in the courtyard. ”

Eran, a former conscientious objector who refused the compulsory military project of Israel – for which he spent time in prison – and asked to use a pseudonym for fear of state reprisals on his return to Israel, Israeli policies have long criticized. Now, looking at his family in danger, he feels more certain than ever.

“Israel claims to act for all Jews,” he said. “But his crimes in Gaza and elsewhere bring a danger to families like mine. Even in New York, it impacts me. ”

For others, the image is more troubled.

“I don’t know where the line is located protecting us and aggravating things,” said Gil. “You grow upon believing that we defend something. But now, the missiles, the shelters, the fear – it’s like a cycle that we cannot see.”

The Israeli government has taken on a belligerent tone, promising to make Tehran “paying a high price”. But in shelters, tension is mixed with exhaustion and increasing recognition that something fundamental has changed.

“It’s like the feeling of a meat lover after visiting a meat packaging plant,” said Gil quietly. “You grow on it, you believe it – but when you see how it is done, it makes you uncomfortable.”

This play was published in collaboration with Egab.