Latest news with #RamatAviv
The Guardian
23-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘It's non-stop': residents of Ramat Aviv describe life amid Iranian bomb strikes
A day after Iranian missiles struck, workers were still clearing rubble from the charred remains of an apartment block in Ramat Aviv, a quiet suburb in north-west Tel Aviv. Bystanders stopped and stared at the destruction, some posing for selfies in front of the impact site, other flipping through a diary belonging to one of the building's residents, which had been thrown on the pavement. 'This feels like one long day, it's non-stop,' said Liat, the CFO of an entertainment firm in Tel Aviv, as she surveyed the destruction. 'You have to go to the shelter three or four times in a day. We want to go back to regular life, to have fun again.' The neighbourhood in Tel Aviv was one of 10 sites hit across Israel on Sunday, in the most intense Iranian barrage yet, which left 23 people injured. It came just a few hours after the US military attacked three nuclear sites in Iran, which it said 'devastated' Iran's nuclear capabilities. A day after the strike, Israelis were wondering how long the war with Iran would last, as Israeli officials issued contradictory statements. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said on Sunday night: 'Once we achieve the goals, we will not continue beyond what is necessary. But we won't end it prematurely either. We will not be drawn into a war of attrition. But nor will we end this action, this historic operation, before we achieve all its goals.' Fighting started on 13 June after Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes on Iran in what it said was a military operation designed to prevent the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran quickly responded with a barrage of missiles and drones, kicking off a steadily escalating war now in its second week. Previously, the Israeli military said its goals were to cripple Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programme, as well as stop what they said was an Iranian plan to destroy Israel. On Monday, it seemed unclear if Israel's goals had expanded, with Donald Trump floating the idea of regime change in a social media post and Israeli strikes on internal security forces' headquarters in Tehran. In Israeli media, senior defence officials were cited arguing that Israel should seize the opportunity and forge a rigid deal with Iran while it was on the back foot. To Liat, the prospect of a prolonged war was daunting. Iran, unlike Hamas or Yeman's Houthi rebels, she said, was a proper state with proper missiles. Israel is still fighting in Gaza, where nearly 60,000 people have been killed in its military campaign over the last 20 months – a war launched after the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200. Liat said: 'This war has to end. It's been almost a week and a half and its enough. When the Houthis would strike us, we would stay in bed, it wasn't scary. But buildings are collapsing, you think, 'it could be me'.' Iranian strikes have killed 24 people in Israel and wounded hundreds more. Israeli strikes have killed at least 430 and wounded more than 3,500 in Iran. Thousands have been displaced across Iran, particularly from the nation's capital, Tehran, which has experienced heavy bombing over the last 10 days. On Monday, the effects of Sunday's strikes in Israel were still plain to see, with broken glass still littering the promenade of a nearby mall. Many businesses across the country were closed as the Israeli home front limited large gatherings so as to ensure adequate space in bomb shelters distributed across the country. Life seemed to continue with some sort of normalcy. Across the street from the blast site, people sipped coffee at a cafe, stickers still affixed to the newly installed windowpanes. People jogged on the streets of Tel Aviv as the Israeli military announced that it had just completed a series of strikes in western Iran. Despite Iran launching missiles at Israel in the morning, there were no injuries from that salvo. The war with Iran has widespread support in Israel, even among the country's opposition, with Yair Lapid, Israel's opposition leader, praising Israel's strikes as 'justified and necessary'. There have been very few protests against the war within Israel, particularly as the home office's restrictions prohibited gatherings. Gil, a 32-year-old tech worker who lives near the strike site in Ramat Aviv, said: 'I think there is a broad understanding that it's absolutely necessary, I don't think any civilian is in any position to say when and how the war should end – we just don't have the data.'
Reuters
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Israelis who lost homes to Iranian missile confront rubble as shock sinks in
TEL AVIV, June 23 (Reuters) - Residents of a Tel Aviv apartment block destroyed on Sunday by an Iranian missile were returning to the site a day later to salvage belongings from the rubble and confront the emotional impact of losing their homes. The missile struck the densely populated neighbourhood of Ramat Aviv, in the north of the city, shattering the block and adjacent houses and tearing away part of the exterior facade of a care home for the elderly. At least 20 people were injured. Most of the care home residents had been evacuated in advance, while those who remained were in safe rooms or shelters at the time, according to police and first responders. Osnat Steinberger, a 68-year-old artist who lived in the destroyed block, was not at home when the missile struck directly outside her window. "All my memories, all my furniture, all my photos, artworks -- everything is gone," she told Reuters on Monday. The building's exterior walls were gone. On one side, there was nothing left of people's homes but piles of rubble and twisted metal in blasted-out rooms. On the other, furniture, lamps, personal items and beds still covered in sheets were visible. Soldiers and rescue workers were gathering whatever they could find. Volunteers in red helmets could be seen carrying out boxes, piles of books, plastic bags full of items and a rug. Ilana Ben Ari, another resident, said it was taking time for her loss to sink in. "In the first minute, when it happens, you're in shock and you kind of deny. You don't really realise what really happened. You only see it physically. But things start to come over at night," she said. Israel began attacking Iran on June 13, saying it aimed to destroy its longtime enemy's nuclear capabilities. Its strikes have killed hundreds of Iranians, wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military command and damaged nuclear and military sites. Iran has retaliated against Israel with barrages of missiles that have killed 24 civilians and damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings. It has repeatedly targeted Tel Aviv, Israel's economic, business and cultural hub, which also has military sites located close to residential communities. At the weekend the United States entered the war, bombing three key Iranian nuclear sites and raising fears of further escalation. The wider Tel Aviv metropolitan area is home to 4 million people out of Israel's total population of 10 million. Steinberger, Ben Ari and other Ramat Aviv residents said they wanted a return to peace as quickly as possible. "I think there's no aim and no use for this war anymore, so I hope the Iranians will agree to talk, and there will be finally some kind of a ceasefire between Iran (and Israel) and of course between Gaza and Israel," said Steinberger.
The Sun
22-06-2025
- The Sun
Brit caught in Iran's revenge strike in Israel says she was buoyed by her ‘blitz spirit'
A BRITISH woman caught in Iran's revenge strikes after the US atom plant attack told how she was buoyed by her 'blitz spirit' yesterday. Nicola Simmonds, 58, was rocked by the biggest ballistic missile to blast Tel Aviv early yesterday. 5 5 5 The tour guide told how fellow shelter dwellers gasped in terror as the explosion wrecked a low rise housing block and sent a blast of air through her bunker. Nicola - who grew up in Mill Hill, North London but now lives in the Ramat Aviv suburb 10 miles north of the city centre - said: 'I've heard blast before in recent days but nothing like this. 'There was an enormous boom followed by a rush of air and we knew this was big and very close. 'But I'm British and my grandfather was a volunteer ambulance driver in the London blitz - so I strangely didn't feel as afraid as everyone else. 'It was against all advice but I, kind of, crawled out of my hole and found myself heading straight for the site of the explosion. 'It's strange but it really did feel like the blitz - what my grandfather had braved in London, I was now experiencing in Tel Aviv.' A five storey block 600 metres from Nicola's home was devastated at 8am yesterday by an enormous Iranian missile strike. Bedding, clothes and belongings hung from the blown out shell of a block with other buildings blackened, cars wrecked and glass and debris strewn across the neighbourhood. The Sun's team took cover in a hotel shelter at 7.30am yesterday when sirens and alerts signalled the first revenge attack after Operation Midnight Hammer. Walls of our shelter in the city centre hotel shook violently as a series of explosions ripped through the air above. Wounded Iran immediately lashes out at Israel launching volleys of ballistic missiles causing 'large-scale destruction' Ramat Aviv took the biggest hit of the attack in the bustling coastal city as families across the country cowered bomb shelters. Gran-of-three Shevi Lahav - an 84-year-old holocaust survivor - told The Sun: 'I live on the fourth floor of a nine story block but don't know if I have a home to go back to now. 'I fled from the Nazis in Russian for two years in World War II and it's hard to believe I'm being attacked again. 'I was in the shelter but god knows what would have happened to me if I hadn't reached the shelter. 'But we won't give in - we didn't give in then and we won't give in now.' 5 5
Telegraph
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
‘Enjoy the fireworks': Cautious optimism on the streets of Tel Aviv
Alerts blared out on phones across Israel at 7.30am on Sunday and, just a minute or so after the blast doors were pulled tight, deep percussive thuds reverberated through the Tel Aviv bomb shelter. It was one of the largest salvos of recent days, with at least 40 ballistic missiles fired at the Jewish state from Iran. All across the country, people were hunkering down, most unaware of the overnight US strikes on Fordow and Iran's other nuclear facilities. Sleep has been hard enough for most Israelis over the last week, with phones often inundated with missile alerts and news notifications in the dead of night. The 15 to 20 people in the Tel Aviv hotel shelter sucked in a collective breath with the thud of the impacts but quickly turned to their phones to peruse reports on the night's action. One by one, smiles spread across sleepy faces with the knowledge that the US had joined Israel in its fight against Iran. This is a country where people have long believed that 'strength' is all. 'For me, the biggest message this sends is that no one f---s with us,' a young South African-born Israeli told me after the blast doors opened. Seven kilometres to the north, a ballistic missile had slammed into the densely compacted residential neighbourhood of Ramat Aviv. Others caused devastation in Ness Ziona, south of Tel Aviv, and the northern city of Haifa. There were no deaths, but more than 100 people were reported injured. The shockwave at the Tel Aviv housing estate sheared off the outside wall off an old but smart-looking concrete apartment block and destroyed multiple neighbouring houses. That block alone contained 34 apartments and an adjacent high-rise had its windows blown out from top to bottom on the blast-facing side, making hundreds homeless. It is thought that at least 20 were injured there. A senior police officer said at the scene that tragedy was averted because everyone got to their safe rooms. The contents of the apartments – clothes, kitchen implements, children's toys – were strewn across the rubble, as hundreds of residents evacuated with what belongings they could save. They join nearly 9,000 Israeli civilians who are now homeless because of the missile strikes, according to the Israel Defense Forces. With the US strike and Iran's retaliation came new emergency lockdown orders from the government, which once again closed most shops and businesses. Nevertheless, the mood on the streets of the city was upbeat, if muted. People nodded knowingly as Telegraph reporters made their way to the blast scene, with several offering fist bumps. 'It's good, but I'm not sure', said one woman of the US strikes. 'Every day, it's a new adventure here. You don't know what comes next. We just want to live.' At a local Mizrahi-run cafe, the owner offered your correspondents a complimentary shot of arrack. 'Congratulations', he said. 'Enjoy the fireworks'. Excitement – good and bad – comes in quick succession in Israel, and no one pretends to know how things will pan out. Over the past week, there had been real anxiety that Donald Trump would decide against military action and leave Israel hanging. Now the mood has lifted, but the country remains under attack. Eldad Shavit, a former head of Mossad's research division, warned on Sunday that Iran was 'ideologically driven' and no one should expect it to give up. It could continue firing missiles at Israel for a 'month or more' based on estimates of its remaining stocks and there was some tentative evidence to suggest it was firing new missiles that were better at evading Israel's celebrated defence systems. Terrorism could also not be ruled out through its proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah, which were badly damaged but not entirely degraded, she said. The war is also costing Israel economically and politically. The government is coming under mounting pressure over the provision of bomb shelters and temporary accommodation for the 9,000 Israelis whose homes have been destroyed in the past week. Although most of the missiles and drones targeted at Israel have been intercepted, many have got through, causing considerable damage and spreading anxiety and fear. At least 24 Israelis have been killed in the attacks and the number of wounded now exceeds 900, with thousands of homes destroyed and their occupants displaced. 'After the first deaths, everything changed,' the South African-born Israeli told The Telegraph. 'People saw what a ballistic missile really means. The blast is enormous. From then, everyone is trying to go to a shelter, but there are not enough.' Some 57 per cent of Israel's homes do not have a 'mamad' or safe room as of last year, according to the Israeli Builders Association. And about a quarter of Israelis do not have access to any hardened shelter. The shortage – concentrated in poorer areas often dominated by Arab Israelis or new immigrant communities – is leading to overcrowding and growing discontent. Stories documenting the problem have become a mainstay of local media. Video footage and pictures shared with The Telegraph show a shelter in a down-at-heel district of Tel Aviv so crowded that its blast door could not be closed during an air raid alert on Thursday. Dozens of other people were left standing outside the entrance to the shelter without access to any hardened protection, the person who provided the images said. In response to mounting pressure, the Israeli government approved a plan on Friday to renovate 500 public bomb shelters and deploy 1,000 new mobile roadside shelters across the country. 'In light of the security situation, the government approved via a phone vote a plan to accelerate home front defence,' the defence ministry said. The provision of temporary accommodation for those left homeless by Iran's assault on civilian infrastructure has also become a pressing issue for the Israeli state. Such is the power of some of Iran's ballistic missiles that they can cause hundreds of homes in Israel's densely packed cities to be destroyed in a single blast. The Telegraph witnessed one such strike in the city of Holon, just south of Tel Aviv, on Thursday morning where 746 people from 250 families had to be relocated after their homes were classified as uninhabitable. Sunday's strike on Ramat Aviv was of a similar magnitude in terms of damage. As of Friday at 3pm, 30,735 damage claims had been received by the Israel Tax Authority, including 25,040 related to buildings, 2,623 related to vehicles and another 3,006 related to other property. Most of the displaced are being put up in hotels if they cannot stay with friends or relatives. Caroline Molcho was relocated temporarily to the Dan Panorama hotel in Tel Aviv after her home was destroyed in a strike last week. The French-Israeli had been in a safe room in her apartment when the missile hit. 'I feel so lucky – it really saved my life, but now we have no idea how long this process will last, how long will I stay here. The future is now really uncertain,' she said.
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Nothing left': Israelis wake to devastation after US attack on Iran
First responders fanned out across Israel Sunday following fresh waves of Iranian missile strikes that left pockets of devastation in their wake -- as the Islamic republic hit back after a US attack on its nuclear sites. In both Haifa and areas around Tel Aviv, the scenes were all too similar. Rubble filled streets at impact sites as the facades of apartment buildings were eviscerated by the falling projectiles, as rescue teams picked through the debris looking for people. In the Ramat Aviv neighbourhood near Tel Aviv, the mere skeletons of homes were left standing following the barrage, with the wooden frames visible amid a sea of debris. As the country was jolted awake by air raid sirens warning residents of air attacks, many in Ramat Aviv left their shelters later to discover the destruction. A man and woman embraced each other and cried. "Our entire house was destroyed -- there's nothing left," said Aviad Chernichovsky, who had rushed out of his home to get to a shelter. Several elderly residents were placed on chairs and beds to allow for medical evacuation. One woman, injured in the face, appeared anxious as paramedics led her away from the rubble. Officials were still taking stock of the damage. "Houses here were hit very, very badly," Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai said at the scene. "Those who were in the shelter are all safe and well. The damage is very, very extensive, but in terms of human life, we are okay." - Devastating power - The Israeli police said in a statement that they had been deployed to at least two other impact sites, one in Haifa in the north and another in Ness Ziona, south of Tel Aviv. A public square in a residential area of Haifa was left strewn with rubble and surrounding shops and homes were heavily damaged. Palm trees withstood the impact in a small public garden, while storefronts were bent, shop windows shattered, and air conditioners left dangling from building facades. Sirens however did not sound in this area. Authorities said they were actively working to clarify what happened. "The possibility of a malfunction with the interceptor (of the air defence system) is under investigation," said an army spokesperson. Two salvos of missiles were launched at Israel from around 7:30 am (0430 GMT), the Israeli military said. Iran has been firing daily missile barrages at Israel for over a week, since a wide-ranging Israeli attack on the Islamic republic's nuclear installations and military bases triggered war. Israel's sophisticated air defences have intercepted more than 450 missiles along with around 1,000 drones, according to the latest figures from the Israeli military. Even still, at least 50 impacts have been officially acknowledged nation-wide with the country's air defence batteries unable to prevent all of the strikes. Iran's armed forces said Sunday's barrage targeted multiple sites in Israel including Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, and relied on some of their most sophisticated long-range missiles with "devastating warhead power". vid-avm-crb/ds/adp/dv
