Israelis are facing a shattered sense of security as the country is hit by deadly missile barrages from Iran for the fourth night in a row. The attacks, which have also targeted residential areas, have killed over 224 people and wounded at least 1,481, according to Iranian authorities.
The Israeli military’s Home Front Command has evacuated hundreds of people to hotels after buildings that were hit were deemed uninhabitable. However, shelters across the country are packed, with residents crowding into communal safe rooms or making do with makeshift beds in stairwells and bomb shelters.
“I don’t know any more where the line is between protecting ourselves and making it worse,” said Gil Simchon, a 38-year-old farmer from near the Ramat David Airbase. “You grow up believing we’re defending something. But now, the missiles, the shelters, the fear – it feels like a cycle we can’t see out of.”
The attacks have triggered panic in a society long shaped by conflict, but where the destruction and wars were inflicted elsewhere. Many Israelis are being confronted with destruction in their home cities for the first time.
Iran’s ability to hit targets such as the Kirya, Israel’s military headquarters in Tel Aviv, has deeply rattled a population raised on the reliability of its multilayered defence architecture. The government has promised to make Tehran “pay a heavy price,” but in the shelters, tension is mixed with exhaustion and a growing recognition that something fundamental has changed.
The situation is causing concern for Israelis abroad, who are watching their families in danger from afar. Eran, a 37-year-old former conscientious objector living in New York, said: “They’ve gone to shelters before, but this time, the fear was different. The shelter was full.”
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/6/17/the-shelter-was-full-israelis-confront-unprecedented-missile-barrages