Iranian missiles force Israelis to race for shelters

Persistent fire sent residents to scramble in and out of refuges throughout the day.

- By MELANIE LIDMAN AND AMI BENTOV

Constant missile salvos from Iran sent people in central Israel in and out of shelters throughout the day Saturday after the U.S. and Israel launched amajor attack on Iran.

Many apartments in poorer areas are not equipped with adequate shelters. In Jaffa, a mixed Arab-Jewish neighborhood of Tel Aviv, more than 100 people, including Muslim families with young children, religious Jews from a nearby seminary and at least a dozen dogs crammed into the public shelter underneath a park.

Some groups splayed out on mattresses they brought into the shelter and played cards, others shared snacks, while observant Muslims were fasting for the holy month of Ramadan. Many stared at their phones, swiping through updates as siren after siren sounded in the neighborhood. As the sun set, Muslims were forced to have their iftar meal, breaking the daily fast at sundown, in bomb shelters.

“Of course we expected it, even though we didn’t want it to happen,” said Idit Cohen, who lives near the park. She noted, however, that it was one of the times when you could see the community come together.