‘I support it completely': Israelis back attack on Iran even as retaliatory missiles hit Tel Aviv
A missile from the first Iranian salvo fired at Tel Aviv had landed a couple of blocks away, killing at least one person, injuring at least 16 others and damaging hundreds of shops and homes in this quiet residential area.
Related: Israel's air might and Iran's nuclear bunkers may make for lengthy conflict
The 37-year-old was sanguine about her own losses, and backed the government decision to attack Iran even though it had so quickly cost her family their home.
'I support it completely,' she said as her older daughter stroked their chihuahua. 'This is nothing compared to what they will be able to do if they get their hand on the A-bomb [nuclear weapons]. We can't afford for the Iranians to get them.
'We tell [our daughters] that as long as we go to the shelter together, everything is OK. The damage in the house is just material things.'
The family's street, in a residential area of Ramat Gan town east of Tel Aviv, was busy with emergency services crunching over shattered glass and other wreckage to reach the building that took a direct hit.
It had been reduced to layers of concrete rubble and twisted steel, with an apparently undamaged cabinet hanging incongruously from the remains of the first floor.
Two hours after the explosion, rescue teams were still searching through the wreckage for survivors, as a drone buzzed overhead when the sirens wailed again.
Iran launched more than 150 missiles at Israeli in five waves overnight, and though most were intercepted, about 10 got through air defences, a military spokesperson said. Those strikes killed three people in the Tel Aviv area and injured more than 70 others around the country.
It was the bloodiest few hours inside Israel since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, but the toll was dwarfed by the damage that Israel inflicted on Iran.
Yaniv Nimni's home lost its roof and all its windows in the last barrage just before dawn, when one of the missiles landed in his suburban street in the town of Rishon LeZion, just south of Tel Aviv.
'This is only money, as long as the family are OK, that's what matters,' he said as he surveyed the damage. His only question about the government's decision to hit Iran was why they left it so long. 'It should have been done much earlier,' he said.
Israelis who have become used to occasional strikes from smaller, short-range rockets from Gaza or Lebanon were stunned by the destruction.
For saving lives, the country's shelter network worked. The three people killed in Ramat Gan and Rishon LeZion had been outside protected areas when the missiles struck, authorities said.
The two-storey houses next to Nimni's were stripped back to raw concrete and piles of rubble, their ceilings collapsed, furnishings shredded. Trees in their gardens were snapped to the ground and cars crumpled on the street outside.
At the edge of the police cordon in Ramat Gan, Bar, 31, begged to be allowed back into her building for just a few minutes to pick up a few things for her children.
The family escaped the bombing because they were staying with her parents. Bar realised they'd had a narrow escape when she recognised her home on the news and, after the all-clear, came back to try to check on their apartment.
'They told me I can't go in because of the damage,' she said. 'I'm anxious and in shock, and the kids are very scared. We have nowhere to go, no home to go back to.'
Residents of nearby buildings walked past dragging suitcases and weighed down with backpacks. Most were leaving to stay with friends and relatives, because the city government had declared a mass casualty event and was only offering camp beds in a nearby school.
A few hundred metres down the road Orly, 27, was helping a friend sweep up shattered glass from the window of a friend's beauty salon.
'You see what a ballistic missile does? We are hundreds of metres away here,' she said. 'We were in the shelter when it hit and you felt it. I've been through a couple of wars now and I knew this was different.'
Elia Digma, 18, lives near a high-rise residential building in central Tel Aviv that was hit in the first salvo and had come to inspect the damage. 'It's a miracle only five people were hurt here,' he said. 'It was one hell of a boom, and everything shook.'
Shocked by the destruction and braced for more attacks, he too was still confident that a pre-emptive attack on Iran had been necessary.
'We are doing what we need to defend ourselves,' Elia said. 'The Bible says if someone comes to kill you, you must kill them first. We are ready for anything and everything that will bring quiet.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Israel's military says airdrops of aid will begin Saturday night in Gaza
Israel's military has announced that airdrops of aid will begin on Saturday night in Gaza, and humanitarian corridors will be established for UN convoys, after increasing accounts of starvation-related deaths. The statement late Saturday followed months of experts' warnings of famine. International criticism, including by close allies, has grown as several hundred Palestinians have been killed in recent weeks while trying to reach aid. The military's statement did not say when the humanitarian corridors for UN convoys would open, or where. It also said the military is prepared to implement humanitarian pauses in densely populated areas. The statement added that the military 'emphasises that combat operations have not ceased' in Gaza against Hamas and it said there is 'no starvation' in the territory. Witness accounts from Gaza have been grim. Some health workers are so weakened by hunger that they put themselves on IV drips to keep treating the badly malnourished. Parents have shown their limp and emaciated children. The Israeli military statement said the airdrops would be conducted in co-ordination with international aid organisations. It was not immediately clear where they would be carried out and it was not clear what role the recently created and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, meant as an alternative to the UN aid system, might play. Israeli airstrikes and gunshots killed at least 53 people in Gaza overnight and into Saturday, most of them shot dead while seeking aid, according to Palestinian health officials and the local ambulance service. Deadly Israeli gunfire was reported twice within hours close to the Zikim crossing with Israel in the north. In the first incident, at least a dozen people waiting for aid trucks were killed, said staff at Shifa hospital, where bodies were taken. Israel's military said it fired warning shots to distance a crowd 'in response to an immediate threat' and it was not aware of any casualties. A witness, Sherif Abu Aisha, said people started running when they saw a light that they thought was from aid trucks, but as they got close, they realised it was Israel's tanks. That is when the army started firing, he told The Associated Press. He said his uncle was among those killed. 'We went because there is no food and nothing was distributed,' he said. On Saturday evening, Israeli forces killed at least 11 people and wounded 120 others when they fired toward crowds who tried to get food from an entering UN convoy, Dr Mohamed Abu Selmiyah, director of Shifa hospital, told the AP. 'We are expecting the numbers to surge in the next few hours,' he said. There was no immediate Israeli military comment. Elsewhere, those killed in strikes included four people in an apartment building in Gaza City, hospital staff and the ambulance service said. Another Israeli strike killed at least eight, including four children, in the crowded tent camp of Muwasi in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to the Nasser hospital. Also in Khan Younis, Israeli forces opened fire and killed at least nine people trying to get aid entering Gaza through the Morag corridor, according to the hospital's morgue records. There was no immediate comment from Israel's military. Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas were at a standstill after the US and Israel recalled negotiating teams on Thursday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday his government was considering 'alternative options' to ceasefire talks. A Hamas official, however, said negotiations were expected to resume next week and called the recall of the delegations a pressure tactic. Egypt and Qatar, which mediate alongside the United States, called the pause temporary and said talks would resume. They did not say when.


Hamilton Spectator
30 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Landlord jailed for decades in hate-crime attack on Palestinian American family has died
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — A landlord jailed for decades after he attacked a Palestinian American boy and his mother has died. Three months ago, Joseph Czuba was sentenced to 53 years behind bars for the attack. He was found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate-crime charges in the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of the boy's mother, Hanan Shaheen. The 73-year-old Czuba targeted them in October 2023 because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas, which started days earlier. Czuba died Thursday in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections, the Chicago Sun-Times reported, citing the Will County Sheriff's Office. The law enforcement agency did not return a call seeking comment on the death. Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations' Chicago office, said in a statement on Saturday that 'this depraved killer has died, but the hate is still alive and well.' Evidence at trial included harrowing testimony from Shaheen and her frantic 911 call, along with bloody crime scene photos and police video. Jurors deliberated less than 90 minutes before handing in a verdict. The family had been renting rooms in Czuba's home in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago when the attack happened. Central to prosecutors' case was harrowing testimony from the boy's mother, who said Czuba attacked her before moving on to her son, insisting they had to leave because they were Muslim. Prosecutors also played the 911 call and showed police footage. Czuba's wife, Mary, whom he has since divorced, also testified for the prosecution, saying he had become agitated about the Israel-Hamas war , which had erupted days earlier. Police said Czuba pulled a knife from a holder on a belt and stabbed the boy 26 times, leaving the knife in the child's body. Some of the bloody crime scene photos were so explicit that the judge agreed to turn television screens showing them away from the audience, which included Wadee's relatives. The attack renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit particularly hard in Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, which have a large and established Palestinian community. Wadee's funeral drew large crowds, and Plainfield officials have dedicated a park playground in his honor. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .


Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Israeli hostage families meet with Rubio to demand action
Lishay Miran-Lavi, wife of Israeli hostage Omri Miran, joins 'Fox News Live' to discuss her meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and her plea for the release of all remaining hostages still held in Gaza.