Uneasy calm in Tel Aviv as Israelis brace for more Iranian missile attacks

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.

Tel Aviv (Israel): 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.

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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.

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.

After more than 20 months of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the war with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the conflict with Houthi rebels in Yemen — all with ties to Iran — 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.

Tel Aviv warns of more attacks

Meanwhile, Israel has warned of more attacks on Iran on Saturday after Tehran fired waves of missiles and drones that killed three people and wounded dozens in Israel.

Tel Aviv said hundreds of airstrikes over the past two days also killed nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran’s nuclear program, in addition to several top generals.

The Israeli military says its strikes on Tehran were deepest ever as Israeli warplanes hit more than 400 targets across Iran in the past 24 hours as part of Operation “Rising Lion,” including dozens of missile sites and air defense systems in Tehran, the military said.

Separately, it said over 20 senior Iranian commanders were eliminated, including top intelligence and missile officials.