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Egypt Independent
11 hours ago
- General
- Egypt Independent
Iranian strikes expose bomb shelter shortage for Palestinian towns inside Israel
Tamra, Israel CNN — In a small, tight-knit town near Haifa in northern Israel, residents here never thought they would experience such horror. Inhabited by Palestinian citizens of Israel, Tamra was left shaken after an Iranian missile struck a residential building late Saturday evening, killing four civilians, Israel's national emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA) reported. The rocket struck a home belonging to the Khatib family at around 11:50pm, according to emergency responders. Manar Khatib, a local teacher, and her two daughters Shatha, 13, and Hala, 20, as well their relative Manar Diab were all killed instantly. Manar's husband Raja and their youngest daughter Razan both survived. Over the last 20 months of war, rockets have occasionally been launched from across Lebanon's border into northern Israel. But Tamra has never taken a hit like this – until hostilities with Iran erupted into direct strikes between the two countries this week. The morning after, the mood in the Lower Galilee town was somber, compounded by anger over a lack of adequate bomb shelters, an issue that Palestinian citizens of Israel have long warned was a glaring inequality that exists throughout their communities. The street where the missile landed was filled with bulldozers trying to clear the debris. Many cars were burned from the impact, with glass shattered all around. Residents and volunteers gathered around to offer support and condolences. The buildings next to the Khatib home had sustained some damage, and almost every home had its windows blown out. 'When we heard the strike, everyone in the village headed there to help. It was a very difficult and chaotic evening. We found body parts littered across the street, and very tragic sights we didn't want to see,' Mohammad Diab, an emergency rescue volunteer told CNN. Diab said it was difficult to reach the family because of the intensity of the impact. Emergency responders searched for survivors trapped under the 'heavy destruction' of the three-story building. A man stands inside a damaged room after missiles fired from Iran impacted a residential building in Tamra, northern Israel June 15, 2025. Ammar Awad/Reuters For 25-year-old neighbor Mohammad Shama, Saturday night was 'terrifying'. 'As soon as the escalations began with Iran, we knew the situation would be dangerous, but we didn't think the danger would come this close to us,' he told CNN. He rushed to his neighbors' home as soon as he heard the blast and tried to help retrieve the bodies. The only reason the Khatib family's youngest daughter survived was because she was sleeping in the room the house uses as a shelter, he said. But not every home in Tamra even has a shelter. Lack of shelter access Only 40% of Tamra's 37,000 residents have either a safe room or a functioning shelter, the town's mayor Musa Abu Rumi told CNN. And there are no bunkers or public shelters which are otherwise ubiquitous across most Israeli towns and cities. In the wake of the attack, his municipality decided to open up educational facilities in Tamra to be used as shelters for whoever didn't feel safe sleeping at home. 'The government has never financed the construction of shelters in our town, because they have other priorities,' he said. Several government ministers have visited Tamra in the wake of the attack, and Abu Rumi said others are planning to visit in the coming week. He told CNN he wants to take advantage of that to raise the issue of neglect in Tamra, and 'bridging the gap between Jewish Israelis and Palestinian citizens of Israel'. The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), an independent research center published a report in the wake of the Tamra attack, describing how 'Arab communities remain unaddressed' almost two years since the outbreak of war. The report points to the 'significant gaps in protection' between Arab and Jewish communities. Civil defense capabilities are built into the infrastructure of Israel. Israeli law requires all homes, residential buildings, and industrial building built since the early 1990s to have bomb shelters. These shelters prove crucial to protect Israelis when warning sirens go off – providing the public with safe and fortified locations to hide from incoming rockets. Emergency and security personnel stand inside a damaged building after missiles fired from Iran impacted a residential building, in Tamra, northern Israel June 15, 2025. Ammar Awad/Reuters However, many Palestinian towns in the country's north 'lack public shelters, protected areas, and shelter facilities,' according to a statement from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. 'The urgency in providing such a response gains secondary validity in light of the fact that the main disparity in the field of defense in the northern district is within Arab towns,' the statement continued. Local resident Shama conceded that there is neglect in Tamra and said he suspects it's because of racism. Social media videos show In many ways, the Tamra strike has highlighted not just the tragedies of this war, but also increasingly embittered fault lines and divisions in Israeli society and governance. In a neighboring town called Mitzpe Aviv, social media video verified by CNN showed Jewish Israelis rejoicing over the rockets raining down on Tamra this weekend, shouting 'may your village burn!' Knesset member Dr. Ahmad Tibi told CNN scenes like that were the 'result of the culture of racism that has spread in Israeli society and the escalating fascism.' Another Knesset member, Naama Lazimi, condemned the video on X, writing; 'shame and disgust.' On the lack of shelters, Lazimi added that 'this is an even greater shame because this is a state with racist and abandoning policies.' Tamra resident Nejmi Hijazi also lamented the video, telling CNN 'in your own country, you are treated as a stranger, even as an enemy, even in your blood and in your death.' Social media videos showing Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem hailing Iran's attacks on Tel Aviv have also circulated. One resident was apprehended and taken in for questioning, according to Jerusalem District Police – a move that national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir applauded, warning that 'anyone who celebrates with the enemy will be punished!' Men walk near a damaged vehicle at an impact site following missile attack from Iran in Tamra, northern Israel, on June 15, 2025. Ammar Awad/Reuters As the threat of more strikes continues to fuel fears in Israel, the residents of Tamra are left feeling anxious. 'Last night was one of the most difficult nights I have ever experienced. I can't forget the image of the little girl I saw trapped under the rubble,' Manal Hijazi, a neighbor told CNN. Hijazi described the Khatibs as some of the nicest and most loving people in the neighborhood. Manar had taught most residents in Tamra. One of her former students is Raghda, a neighbor whose house was also damaged by the Saturday blast. 'I was in bed with my three daughters when the rocket struck. The window blasted open and I got hit by dust and rocket remnants. That happened all in front of my eyes, with my daughters right next to me,' Raghda told CNN, teary and shaking. Raghda described the horror she felt cradling her 4-month-old daughter throughout the attack. She said her daughters were shocked and remained silent for many hours. 'There is no way I will be sleeping at home tonight,' she said. CNN's Dana Karni contributed to this report.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘They just see you as an Arab': Israel's Palestinian citizens given cursory protection from attack
When an Iranian missile bound for the industrial port of Haifa dropped out of the sky on the town of Tamra on Saturday night, it fell on Israel's most vulnerable, and in one devastating flash, lit up the country's deepest divide. The missile demolished a three-storey stone house and killed four members of the same family: Manar Khatib, and her two daughters – Shada, a university student, and Hala, a 13-year-old schoolgirl – as well as Manar's sister-in-law, Manal. It was a solid house built in an old Arab style and it had two 'safe rooms'', one on each floor. When they heard the air raid sirens Manar and her daughters ran to the one on the second floor as they had practised, but the reinforced concrete did not protect them. They were blown apart and the floor under them fell on the safe room directly below, crushing Manal. The blast blew the core out of the building, and sent the neighbours flying. About 40 people were injured, though none of the wounds were life-threatening. 'The explosion was so loud I can still hear it,' said Azmeh Kiwan, a 50-year-old homeowner who lived directly opposite. When he opened his eyes, the whole district was in total darkness. It was only when the town's rescue workers came with their bright lights that the neighbours could see the road was full of rubble, and it was only when the sun rose that they saw body parts scattered on their terraces and roofs. Kheir Abu-Elhija, a local first responder, who was one of the first on the scene, said he had worked 20 years as a nurse and never seen anything like it. 'The second floor safe room came right down on the first floor safe room and crushed everything,' he said. 'The only way we could find Manal's remains was by a trail of blood,' he said. The war between Israel and Iran involves powerful modern weapons that can turn a human body into vapour and scraps in an instant. Israel also has modern air defences which have managed thus far to intercept most of the incoming Iranian missiles. And for three-quarters of the country there are underground bunkers, a virtual guarantee of survival. But the Khatib family did not have a bunker. They were Palestinian citizens of Israel, like the rest of the 37,000 population of this old hillside town in the Lower Galilee. And in common with most Palestinian-majority towns, Tamra does not have a single underground shelter. Like much else in Israel, there is nothing equal about the way death comes from the sky. 'The Israeli government, since the creation of the state, didn't invest in one public shelter for the Arab part of society,' Tamra's mayor, Mussa Abu Rumi, said. The reinforced 'safe rooms' in new-build houses are an inferior alternative, as the fate of the Khatibs showed, and Abu Rumi said only 40% of Tamra residents even have those. 'I would like to think that the government, since missiles have become part of warfare, will start a multi-dimensional programme to invest in the Arab community, and building shelters would be part of that,' the mayor said. Asked if he thought the current hard-right coalition would pursue such a programme, he shook his head and admitted there was 'no hope'. While missile strike sites in Tel Aviv, Rishon ReZion and Bat Yam have been flooded with rescue workers, home front troops, police and volunteers, most of the clear-up in Tamra was done by neighbours and a handful of municipal workers. Taking a water break on a shaded terrace, Azmeh Kiwan and his elder brother Bassam, who live directly across from the Khatib house, made clear in an interview they identified themselves as Israeli Arabs. Tamra is an ancient Arab village, they pointed out. 'I am from here. I belong to this place and I will die here,' Azmeh said. The brothers also declared themselves fully behind the war against Iran, a country they described as wellhead of terrorism. It was only afterwards, when the tape recorder was off, that another neighbour came forward to vent his anger, which he claimed was shared by all of Tamra, at a video that had circulated since last night. It was filmed from a nearby Jewish town, and showed missiles and Israeli interceptors streaking across the black sky, but when a missile falls short and slams into Tamra, you can hear people around the camera rejoicing. 'To the village! To the village!' one man cries, and then several women's voices join in, someone starts clapping and together they sing a verse that has become a Jewish extremist anthem. It consists of one line: 'May your village burn' sung over and over again. 'Please write about this,' the neighbour said. 'If I say anything I will have 20 police cars at my house.' Abu Rumi said he knows where the video was made, and has informed the Israeli government and the police, but has little expectation of anyone being brought to justice. 'We are trying to engage with Israeli society all the time,' the mayor said. 'What we find is hatred, and people who don't see you as a legitimate human being in this place.' He said the centre in Israeli politics had collapsed, and with it the few protections Palestinian citizens of Israel could count on. 'The political power that the settler parties have in government is creating this division,' he said. 'They just see you as an Arab no matter where you are from.' Ayman Odeh, a member of the Knesset who is a personal friend of the Khatib family, said: 'There is a connection between the politics of this government and those who are celebrating this terrible situation.' Odeh argued that war with Iran is just the latest symptom of an untreated wound at the heart of the Middle East. 'It is all connected to the Palestinian issue, and as long as we do not resolve the Palestinian issue we will keep going in circles for ever,' he said. He added that it was also the outcome of Benjamin Netanyahu's need for conflict to stay in office. 'Netanyahu is using this war for political reasons,' Odeh said. 'He's putting everyone in danger in the region with this war, and the war in Gaza. This is the most fascist and dangerous government that we ever had, and it is a danger to everyone.'
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
‘They just see you as an Arab': Israel's Palestinian citizens given cursory protection from attack
When an Iranian missile bound for the industrial port of Haifa dropped out of the sky on the town of Tamra on Saturday night, it fell on Israel's most vulnerable, and in one devastating flash, lit up the country's deepest divide. The missile demolished a three-storey stone house and killed four members of the same family: Manar Khatib, and her two daughters – Shada, a university student, and Hala, a 13-year-old schoolgirl – as well as Manar's sister-in-law, Manal. It was a solid house built in an old Arab style and it had two 'safe rooms'', one on each floor. When they heard the air raid sirens Manar and her daughters ran to the one on the second floor as they had practised, but the reinforced concrete did not protect them. They were blown apart and the floor under them fell on the safe room directly below, crushing Manal. The blast blew the core out of the building, and sent the neighbours flying. About 40 people were injured, though none of the wounds were life-threatening. 'The explosion was so loud I can still hear it,' said Azmeh Kiwan, a 50-year-old homeowner who lived directly opposite. When he opened his eyes, the whole district was in total darkness. It was only when the town's rescue workers came with their bright lights that the neighbours could see the road was full of rubble, and it was only when the sun rose that they saw body parts scattered on their terraces and roofs. Kheir Abu-Elhija, a local first responder, who was one of the first on the scene, said he had worked 20 years as a nurse and never seen anything like it. 'The second floor safe room came right down on the first floor safe room and crushed everything,' he said. 'The only way we could find Manal's remains was by a trail of blood,' he said. The war between Israel and Iran involves powerful modern weapons that can turn a human body into vapour and scraps in an instant. Israel also has modern air defences which have managed thus far to intercept most of the incoming Iranian missiles. And for three-quarters of the country there are underground bunkers, a virtual guarantee of survival. But the Khatib family did not have a bunker. They were Palestinian citizens of Israel, like the rest of the 37,000 population of this old hillside town in the Lower Galilee. And in common with most Palestinian-majority towns, Tamra does not have a single underground shelter. Like much else in Israel, there is nothing equal about the way death comes from the sky. 'The Israeli government, since the creation of the state, didn't invest in one public shelter for the Arab part of society,' Tamra's mayor, Mussa Abu Rumi, said. The reinforced 'safe rooms' in new-build houses are an inferior alternative, as the fate of the Khatibs showed, and Abu Rumi said only 40% of Tamra residents even have those. 'I would like to think that the government, since missiles have become part of warfare, will start a multi-dimensional programme to invest in the Arab community, and building shelters would be part of that,' the mayor said. Asked if he thought the current hard-right coalition would pursue such a programme, he shook his head and admitted there was 'no hope'. While missile strike sites in Tel Aviv, Rishon ReZion and Bat Yam have been flooded with rescue workers, home front troops, police and volunteers, most of the clear-up in Tamra was done by neighbours and a handful of municipal workers. Taking a water break on a shaded terrace, Azmeh Kiwan and his elder brother Bassam, who live directly across from the Khatib house, made clear in an interview they identified themselves as Israeli Arabs. Tamra is an ancient Arab village, they pointed out. 'I am from here. I belong to this place and I will die here,' Azmeh said. The brothers also declared themselves fully behind the war against Iran, a country they described as wellhead of terrorism. It was only afterwards, when the tape recorder was off, that another neighbour came forward to vent his anger, which he claimed was shared by all of Tamra, at a video that had circulated since last night. It was filmed from a nearby Jewish town, and showed missiles and Israeli interceptors streaking across the black sky, but when a missile falls short and slams into Tamra, you can hear people around the camera rejoicing. 'To the village! To the village!' one man cries, and then several women's voices join in, someone starts clapping and together they sing a verse that has become a Jewish extremist anthem. It consists of one line: 'May your village burn' sung over and over again. 'Please write about this,' the neighbour said. 'If I say anything I will have 20 police cars at my house.' Abu Rumi said he knows where the video was made, and has informed the Israeli government and the police, but has little expectation of anyone being brought to justice. 'We are trying to engage with Israeli society all the time,' the mayor said. 'What we find is hatred, and people who don't see you as a legitimate human being in this place.' He said the centre in Israeli politics had collapsed, and with it the few protections Palestinian citizens of Israel could count on. 'The political power that the settler parties have in government is creating this division,' he said. 'They just see you as an Arab no matter where you are from.' Ayman Odeh, a member of the Knesset who is a personal friend of the Khatib family, said: 'There is a connection between the politics of this government and those who are celebrating this terrible situation.' Odeh argued that war with Iran is just the latest symptom of an untreated wound at the heart of the Middle East. 'It is all connected to the Palestinian issue, and as long as we do not resolve the Palestinian issue we will keep going in circles for ever,' he said. He added that it was also the outcome of Benjamin Netanyahu's need for conflict to stay in office. 'Netanyahu is using this war for political reasons,' Odeh said. 'He's putting everyone in danger in the region with this war, and the war in Gaza. This is the most fascist and dangerous government that we ever had, and it is a danger to everyone.'
Edmonton Journal
a day ago
- Edmonton Journal
Iranian missile bombardment kills 11 Israelis, injures hundreds more
Article content Four members of the Khatib family were killed in Tamra, a village in the Lower Galilee, 12 miles east of Acre, when an Iranian missile hit their residence. The victims were identified as Manar Khatib, 45, her daughters Shada, 20, and Hala, 13, and their relative, Manal Khatib, 41. Fourteen others were wounded in the strike. A missile strike in Haifa injured 13 people, all of whom were reported to be in moderate or mild condition. Meanwhile, in Rehovot in central Israel, a direct hit on a building left 37 people wounded, two seriously, Magen David Adom said. The Weizmann Institute of Science in the same city said that several of its buildings were damaged by the missile barrage, but that there were no casualties, adding that the institute is in contact with security and emergency services to ensure the safety of its staff and campus.
International Business Times
a day ago
- Politics
- International Business Times
Iran Fires Fresh Round of Missiles and Kills Eight Israeli Civilians as Israel Pounds Tehran With Bombs Escalating Tensions
Israel and Iran exchanged another wave of deadly attacks on late Saturday, resulting in overnight strikes that killed at least eight civilians in Israel and targeted the Iranian Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tehran. Iran launched a massive barrage of missiles on Sunday in retaliation for Israel's earlier preemptive strike earlier in the week, according to The Times of Israel. The deadly attack has forced scores of people to flee to bomb shelters as missiles rained down. Iran's latest offensive on Sunday reportedly hit several buildings in Bat Yam, Rehovot, and Tel Aviv, as well as a shopping center in Kiryat Ekron, according to first responders cited by the outlet. Missiles Raining Down A subsequent wave of Iranian attacks that evening claimed the lives of four people in Bat Yam and left around a dozen others injured, with up to 35 people still missing, according to the outlet. Among the dead were two children, aged 8 and 13, as well as two women—one in her 60s and another in her 70s—first responders reported. Earlier on Saturday, airstrikes killed four Israeli civilians and left 200 others injured, according to The Times of Israel. All four victims were women from the same family. Manar Khatib, her daughters Hala, 20, and Shada, 13, along with a relative also named Manar were killed during bombings in the city of Tamra, the outlet reported. Throughout the day, around 140 people sustained injuries. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) lifted shelter-in-place advisories just before 3:30 a.m. local time, though alerts remained in effect due to an ongoing drone threat, The Times of Israel noted. Iranian strikes targeted several key locations, including Israel's largest oil refinery in the Haifa region, in the country's north. The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot was also hit, with at least one laboratory building catching fire, The New York Times reported. The attacks came just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a fiery speech promising to unleash the full power of the Israeli Air Force on Tehran. Not long after his remarks, air raid sirens sounded in northern Israel as Iran launched a "heavy and destructive" barrage of ballistic missiles. No Stopping Israel Meanwhile, Israeli forces hit Iran's central command, inflicting some damage on one of the Ministry of Defense's administrative offices, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim. A separate Israeli attack also reportedly targeted the Organization of Defense Innovation and Research, which operates under the ministry. Videos circulating on social media showed smoke billowing from the impacted buildings after the Israel Defense Forces carried out the strike. Iranian state media reported that Israel also hit several key energy sites, including the world's largest natural gas field in South Pars, the Shahran oil depot, and additional fuel storage facilities in Tehran. On Saturday, Iran's largest natural gas facility—the South Pars gas field—caught fire following Israeli airstrikes, while thick smoke was also seen rising from the Abadan oil refinery near the Persian Gulf. Israel has requested U.S. support in its efforts to eliminate Iran's nuclear capabilities, but those appeals have been declined, citing two Israeli officials, according to Axios. Israel's ongoing "widespread strikes" across Iranian territory have placed the remaining Iranian leadership in a tough position—either escalate the conflict against a militarily stronger Israel or pursue diplomatic solutions. Meanwhile, next round of nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, scheduled for Sunday in Oman, was called off as global leaders urgently pushed for de-escalation to prevent a full-scale war.
