Relief, joy as Israel reopens after Iran war ceasefire
"Finally, we can start to live again," said Yosi, 40, a yoga teacher and mother of two, sitting at a cafe in Tel Aviv.
The western coastal city was among the sites struck repeatedly during Iran and Israel's deadly exchanges of missiles.
"I'm exhausted, but I was so relieved when I saw my two kids going to school this morning, meeting their friends, after 12 days at home," she added.
Traders unpacked their spices, clothes and souvenirs at Carmel market in the centre of the economic and tech capital, which is also renowned for its nightlife.
"We hope now the clients will be back. We have suffered too much," a jewellery trader, Ori, told AFP.
Crowds of passengers moved through the Ben Gurion airport outside the city as commercial flights resumed.
Families holding miniature Israeli flags smiled as they stepped off planes on their return. Some kneeled and kissed the tarmac.
Fears for future
For some, the relief was tinged with fear about further unrest.
"I'm not religious but I pray that I won't hear any more sirens, that I won't have to run and hide in a shelter," said Yafit Sofi, 33, between sips of beer in Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening.
"We want to party, we want to live, to regain our carefree attitude... But how long will this last? What will the next war be?" the young woman said.
"So many people want to kill us, so many countries want to destroy Israel. And each time, it's worse."
The ceasefire with Iran raised hopes for some that Israel would also halt the fighting in the nearby Palestinian territory Gaza where it has been battling to crush the Islamist militant group Hamas for more than 20 months.
The area is suffering from famine-like conditions after Israel blocked all supplies from early March to the end of May and continues to impose restrictions, according to rights groups.
The Israeli government declined to comment on any new ceasefire talks beyond saying that efforts to return Israeli hostages in Gaza were ongoing "on the battlefield and via negotiations".
In Tel Aviv, Yossi Bin, 45, an engineer, said now families in the city could "sleep peacefully".
"I hope it stays that way," he added.
"I truly hope the ceasefire will hold, and that (the government) take advantage... to take some action to bring calm to other fronts as well."
Gaza suffering
Israel attacked Iran in a bid to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, an ambition Tehran has consistently denied having.
The Israeli action killed at least 610 civilians and wounded more than 4,700, according to the Iranian health ministry.
Iranian missile strikes on Israel killed 28 people, according to official figures and rescuers.
"At first we felt like it was a game, it all seemed unreal. We were at the beach and suddenly we were running into shelters to hide," said Dorothea Schupelius, 29, while strolling in Tel Aviv.
"And then no, it wasn't a game: real people died," she said. "Everyone suffered."
Fashion designer Noa Karlovsky had a pile of wedding dresses sewn for her clients in her loft in Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv.
"Many of our men are in Gaza, and with the war in Iran, even more weddings have been cancelled," she said sadly.
"We can't plan anything, we don't really control our lives anymore. Our leaders are at war, but we're just pawns. I'd like to start a family, but I wonder if it's a good idea," added the 30-year-old.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
an hour ago
- LeMonde
Gaza: France's unspoken diplomatic resignation in the face of massacres and famine
Is indignation France's only weapon? On Tuesday, July 22, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot once again expressed outrage over the massacres taking place in the Gaza Strip, calling the "new ground offensive" launched by the Israeli army around Deir al-Balah, in the center of the territory, just hours beforehand, "deplorable." Speaking on the radio station France Inter, Barrot also condemned the way Israel has instrumentalized humanitarian aid within the Palestinian enclave through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which he said led to a "bloodbath." "About 900 people" were killed, he said, "as they went to collect a bag of flour and were targeted while in food lines." "I demand that the free and independent press be allowed access to Gaza, to show what is happening there and be able to speak about it," he said. The day before, Agence France-Presse (AFP) had spoken out about the fate of its local collaborators there, warning about the threat of famine devastating the enclave. "Since AFP was founded in August 1944, some of our journalists were killed in conflict (...) but there is no record of us ever having to watch our colleagues starving to death," AFP's journalists' association wrote in a statement published on Monday.
AFP
an hour ago
- AFP
Anti-dog flyer resurfaces online, attracts hateful rhetoric toward Canadian Muslims
"Residents of Vancouver, Canada, have spotted several signs around the city asking people to keep their dogs away, as dogs are considered filthy and 'haram' in Islam," reads the caption of a July 13, 2025 X photo. "Canadians, expected to give UP all you are to become what they fled from." The attached image shows a leaflet asking people to "be courteous to your Muslim neighbours" by keeping dogs on a leash and away from people practicing Islam supposedly due to religious convictions about the animals. Claims about the picture also appeared in online articles and on TikTok and Facebook where it was widely viewed in a post by American conservative commentator David J Harris Jr, who has previously spread misinformation. Comments on some of the posts disparagingly implied owners could bring their dogs wherever they liked and that Muslims needed to assimilate to Canada. Image Screenshot of an X post taken July 22, 2025 Other recent posts shared the image but claimed the flyer was seen in the United Kingdom. AFP previously fact-checked claims in Canada misrepresenting Muslims' beliefs and actions. As the country's once long-standing immigration consensus has broken down, misleading claims frequently circulate on newcomers in general. The recent posts about supposed anti-dog posters are similarly missing context. A reverse image search reveals images of the flyers have been online since 2017. , local media reported on the appearance of the signs at an off-leash park in the town of Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, outside of Vancouver. No one ever came forward to claim responsibility for the action, but the City of Pitt Meadows and the non-profit Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which were advertised as alleged sponsors of the campaign on the flyer both stated they do not endorse the leaflets' message. The image frequently reappears online and, in an August 2024 statement (archived here), said whoever created the sign was not authorized to use the city's logo and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had been aware of the incident since 2017. "Pitt Meadows is a welcoming multi-cultural community and this post does not represent the City or its community members," the statement says. "Like other municipalities, the City of Pitt Meadows has a bylaw that asks dog owners to keep their pets on a leash, except in designated off-leash areas," it adds. The city also noted no physical signs have been found in Pitt Meadows since 2017. AFP reached out to CAIR for comment about the posters and did not receive a response but the non-profit previously told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation it did not participate in any sort of flyer campaign, while noting CAIR also speculated France24 reported on the resurgence of the Canadian sign in April 2025, along with several similar hoaxes in the United Kingdom, which were also recently covered by British fact-checking organization FullFact. In February, British organization Tell MAMA reported the highest-ever number of incidents of anti-Muslim hate in the United Kingdom, while Canadian groups have also raised about instances of Islamophobia (archived here). Statistics Canada recorded a steady rise in police-reported hate crimes targeting Muslims between 2020 and 2024, behind the number and increase of anti-Semitic incidents (archived here). Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.
LeMonde
2 hours ago
- LeMonde
In Gaza, the humanitarian deal between the EU and Israel collapses
Overnight from Sunday, July 20, to Monday, July 21, a World Health Organization (WHO) warehouse in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, was targeted by an Israeli airstrike. The facility burned and its roof collapsed. On Monday afternoon, the building housing the medical agency's staff was also struck by an Israeli projectile. The team was forced to evacuate the area. By Tuesday, one of its members was still being detained by Israeli forces. Deir al-Balah, home to teams from numerous NGOs and United Nations agencies, is Gaza's humanitarian hub – the main center for aid operations to the population. Its targeting marks a new red line crossed by Israel. Until now, the area had been spared by Israel's offensive. On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned "the horror show in Gaza, with a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times. Malnourishment is soaring. Starvation is knocking on every door." On July 10, Kaja Kallas, the European Union's head of foreign policy, announced that an agreement had been reached with Israel to allow large-scale delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Two weeks later, this arrangement – struck in exchange for the 27 member states refraining from imposing sanctions on Israel – already appears to have been disregarded.
