Residents of Bat Yam emerge after deadly Iranian missile attack: ‘We don’t feel safe at all’

Anna, 36, was sitting on the stairs of her apartment block in Bat Yam, a city just south of Tel Aviv, when an Iranian missile struck a nearby tower. Doors were blown off their hinges and smoke and ash filled the air.

She briefly blacked out. When she came to, she and her husband, clutching their dog, shifted a large door that had landed next to them. They tried to reach the building’s shelter, but the metal door was jammed. After a desperate struggle, it finally gave way, and those trapped inside stepped out into the darkness. Around them, their homes lay in ruins.

The missile that hit the neighbouring block killed at least six people, including an eight-year-old girl, a 10-year-old boy, and an 18-year-old man, and wounded more than 100, according to emergency services. In the immediate aftermath, at least seven people were reported missing.

The strike was part of a second wave of overnight attacks from Iran that triggered sirens across central Israel just after 2:30 a.m. Cities including Tel Aviv, Ashdod, Rehovot, Ramat Gan and parts of Jerusalem were all affected. Ten people are known to have been killed in the strikes.

Search and rescue teams continued looking for missing residents (Photo: J Prinsley)[Missing Credit]

Although Anna’s building wasn’t directly hit, the missile sent shockwaves through the surrounding area; debris crashed onto rooftops, including hers, and windows smashed.

In the early hours, as dazed residents emerged from their damaged homes Anna saw her elderly neighbour, Hannah, wandering outside looking for her missing dog.

“She was shaking badly,” Anna said. “I didn’t know if she had internal injuries.”

Cars were covered with a thick layer of ash from the strike (Photo: J Prinsley)[Missing Credit]

Immediately after the blast, Anna stood in the street in her pyjamas, her husband wore a bathrobe, and their friend, who had been staying with them, was barefoot except for one shoe – he wrapped the other foot in a plastic bag to protect it from shattered glass.

When they asked an official where to go, they were told: “Go home.”

“We told her, ‘There is no home.’”

By Sunday lunchtime, she was picking through what was left of her life. Her laptop – which contains the draft of a book she’s writing – was unscathed, along with a few books. Most of the couple’s belongings, collected over three years living in the apartment, were gone. They have no idea what comes next.

All that was left of Anna's possessions after her apartment was destroyed by the impact of an Iranian missile (Photo: J Prinsley)[Missing Credit]

“This country has been at war since 1948,” Anna said. “And still, no one knows what to do when a missile hits.” A Russian native, she was frustrated that no central support point had been set up for displaced residents.

All around these impacted streets, residents are wandering around in shock. On the street of the impact, where smoke hangs in the air as emergency teams pick through the devastation and some of the debris is being cleared away by trucks, family members of the people still missing in the tower sit and wait for news. Search and rescue teams are searching for the rubble for at least three people still unaccounted for.

[Missing Credit]

Shila, 35, lives two streets away with her elderly father. When the sirens sounded, she had no way to reach shelter.

“He’s in a wheelchair, he can’t get there, so I stayed with him,” she said.

She watched the sky light up as the missile struck. “I was watching TV, and then suddenly from the salon, I saw the enormous flash.”

She’s frightened another missile could come at any time.

“This isn’t just Bat Yam’s problem. No city in Israel is safe right now. It’s out of our control.”

Surrounding streets in Bat Yam were badly affected, with windows smashed (Photo: J Prinsley)[Missing Credit]

Eyal, 16, also lives nearby. His parents’ hairdressing shop overlooks the tower that was hit. On Sunday morning, the family was sweeping up pieces of glass from the shop's shattered front window. “I was scared during the night,” he said.

Mother and daughter Shir, 28, and Iris, 67, live several streets away and spent the night in a shelter.

“We felt the strong impact of the strike,” Shir said. “We don’t feel safe at all.”

Iris added, “I want to move to London. I’d be safer there.”

Adaku, 51, who lives on the other side of the city, was reeling from the attack.

“We’re not just talking about war. We’re talking about life - because life is in danger,” she said. “Everything around here has been condemned by the strike. Everyone is scared.”

She said the overnight sirens woke her abruptly. “Today, my blood pressure is high.”

Homes several blocks away from the site of the strike were devastated by its shattered impact (Photo: J Prinsley)[Missing Credit]

Local taxi driver Itai, 56, knows the neighbourhood well and is shaken by the scale of the strike.

“Those people who were hit probably rode in my car,” he said. “I felt the boom. We all did. Bat Yam has never been hit like this before.”

“Israel has no choice – she must go into Iran. In a month or two, they’ll have the atomic bomb. Israel doesn’t want to fight, but Iran wants to destroy the Jews.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog visited the wreckage early on Sunday afternoon.

Residents of Bat Yam observed the scenes of destruction on Sunday morning (Photo: J Prinsley)[Missing Credit]

Herzog described the scene as part of “a very significant moment in the history of Israel.”

“Over the past two days, thirteen Israelis have been killed – of various ages – children, adults, elderly people and new immigrants,” said the president, adding that “the missiles do not distinguish between Jews, Muslims, Christians, or any part of the wonderful Israeli mosaic.” He called for Israelis to “show the emotional and mental resilience that we always have.”

Mayor Tzvika Brot said that 61 buildings in Bat Yam were damaged and at least six would have to be completely demolished.