TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A palpable tension settled over an eerily quiet Tel Aviv on Saturday as residents anticipated another round of missiles to be fired from Iran, which is under intense attack from the Israeli military.
Iran’s retaliatory strikes late Friday – a barrage of drones and missiles mostly shot down by Israel’s defenses – killed at least three people in the greater Tel Aviv area, and wounded dozens.
Most stores and restaurants were closed the next day across the Mediterranean city, though some ice cream shops remained open. A smattering of people gathered with friends in parks, while staying close to public bomb shelters. Tel Aviv’s beaches, normally packed, had fewer sunbathers.
Uneasy Israelis huddled over their phones for updates about the escalating conflict with Iran, while still trying to go about their lives and enjoy a bit of sunshine.
“It just feels very unknown,” said Lindsay Schragen, an architect in Tel Aviv.
After more than 20 months of war between Israel and Hamas, Israelis are used to government requests for them to go to bomb shelters when sirens are activated.
But those episodes usually last about 10 minutes, whereas conflict with the much more powerful Iranian army means attacks last significantly longer, requiring families to spend hours in bomb shelters. Still, many people expressed gratitude for Israel’s early warning systems, including cellphone notifications, and the robust shelter infrastructure in the city.
Schragen, who moved to Israel from New Jersey eight years ago, said it was difficult for her family and friends in the U.S. to understand how she spent the night dashing for a bomb shelter and then the next afternoon hanging with friends in the park.
“My mom keeps calling me and asking if I’m in the shelter, but no, I’m here, outside,” she said. “Somehow we’re able to preserve some normalcy.”
Over the decades, Israel has developed a sophisticated air defense system capable of detecting incoming fire and deploying only if the projectile is headed toward a population center or sensitive military or civilian infrastructure. Israeli leaders say the system isn’t 100% guaranteed, but credit it with preventing serious damage and countless casualties.
Israel’s attack on Iran was much more intense and caused significantly more damage. Israel said its hundreds of strikes on Iran over the past two days killed a number of top generals, nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran’s U.N. ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded.
Israel said the surprise attack was necessary before Iran got any closer to building an atomic weapon. The Israeli attack threw into disarray talks between the United States and Iran over Tehran’s rapidly developing nuclear program.
As the Iranian attack ensued, hospitals across Israel moved intensive-care patients into underground parking lots converted for such emergencies.
Sheba Medical Center, in Ramat Gan, has room for hundreds of patients in its underground facility east of Tel Aviv. Over the past 48 hours, the hospital has moved dozens of patients, including premature babies, into the protected underground area.
“I told my wife I never want my child to be born into such a reality,” said Eliran Bar, the father of a three-week-old premature baby in the intensive care unit. “I really hope it will end soon.”
Saturday was mostly quiet in Israel, though many people were preparing for another night of missiles.
Shaun Katz, a 32-year-old lawyer from Tel Aviv, packed a bag with camping mattresses, water bottles, and bananagrams, his favorite game, to pass the time.
“We don’t know how this goes on or how it plays out, but this may have been the best chance to neutralize the Iranian threat,” Katz said. “I usually would take the option to de-escalate, but I don’t know if that option is on the table, and this may be the best chance we’ve got to stop them from getting a nuclear weapon.”
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, though its uranium enrichment has reached near weapons-grade levels, according to the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency.
Others in the Tel Aviv area, where several buildings were destroyed, were more worried about what comes next.
“My wife, she is Israeli, she’s very, very anxious and she wants to leave as soon as possible,” said Howard Alansteen, an American living in Israel. “She’s talking about going over the bridge to Jordan. She was talking about getting on a ferry to Cyprus. She’s taking about going to Eliat. She is really upset.”
Zhenya Kuperman, a 20-year-old chef from Givatayim, a suburb east of Tel Aviv, said she had many friends who were too scared to leave their homes all day, but it helped her to come out and see people.
“Even with all the pressure, all we need is to be together,” she said.
