"First, if you are lucky, there is a loud warning alert on your phone. Then the sirens scream from all around you. Within seconds, people move quickly but calmly: to a safe room, to a shelter, sometimes simply to the nearest underground car park. Some families sleep in public shelters, unsure whether they can reach safety from home in time, young children in tow."
"Each time you wait as the sound of interceptions echoes somewhere overhead. Sometimes the moments are more frightening: the thud of cluster munitions breaking apart in the sky, or the impact when they land, injuring or killing people within earshot. For the past few weeks, this has been part of daily life in Tel Aviv as missiles launched by the Islamic Republic and Hezbollah target Israeli cities."
"Even when bombs are blocked, the experience leaves its mark: the sudden spike of adrenaline, the quiet messages sent afterwards to loved ones: are you OK? I had been meant to spend my time here welcoming a group of supporters to see the work of the global organisation whose UK team I lead, New Israel Fund: Israelis and Palestinians rebuilding communities after 7 October."
Tel Aviv residents experience regular missile attacks requiring rapid movement to shelters, reinforced rooms, or underground car parks. Warning alerts and sirens signal imminent danger, with families sometimes sleeping in public shelters overnight. Most missiles are intercepted by air defense systems, but some penetrate defenses, causing casualties including nine deaths in Beit Shemesh. The psychological toll manifests through adrenaline spikes and anxious check-ins with loved ones. This reality, previously distant for those living abroad, becomes visceral when experienced firsthand. The author, leading New Israel Fund's UK operations, intended to host supporters but instead witnesses the region's ongoing conflict firsthand, gaining deeper understanding of the trauma residents endure regularly.
#missile-attacks #civilian-experience #air-defense-systems #trauma-and-psychological-impact #middle-east-conflict
Read at www.theguardian.com
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