‘The shelter was full’: Israelis confront unprecedented missile barrages

Tel Aviv, Israel – For the fourth night in a row, missiles have hit Israeli cities. Iran’s retaliatory strikes, triggered by Israeli attacks, saw people sheltering in stairwells and bomb shelters as the scale of the damage and Iranian rockets managing to penetrate one of the world’s most sophisticated defence systems have left many reeling.

On Friday, Israel began its assault on Iran, targeting military and nuclear facilities and killing high-profile security, intelligence and military commanders as well as scientists. Israel’s attacks, which have also targeted residential areas, have killed more than 224 people and wounded at least 1,481, according to Iranian authorities. The government said most of those killed and wounded have been civilians.

In response, Iran has fired barrages of missiles towards Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities.

Hundreds of Iranian missiles have been launched since Friday, and Israel’s air defence systems, though robust, have been unable to stop all of them. While the number of missiles fired by Iran appears to have gone down on a night-by-night basis, the scale of the attacks continues to be unprecedented for Israelis.

Central Tel Aviv, Haifa, the scientific hub of Rehovot and homes have been struck. At least 24 people in Israel have been killed in the strikes and hundreds wounded.

The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, a source of national pride and a cornerstone of Israeli military research, was among the hardest hit. Its laboratories were torn open, glass panes shattered, and cables and rebar left dangling.

“This isn’t just damage to buildings,” said Jenia Kerimov, 34, a biology PhD candidate who lives nearby. “It’s years of research, equipment we can’t easily replace, data that might be lost forever.”

She had been in a bomb shelter a block away when the institute was struck. “We’re supposed to be helping protect the country. But now even our work, our home, feels exposed.”

Shelters across the country are packed. In older neighbourhoods without bunkers, residents crowd into communal safe rooms. In Tel Aviv and West Jerusalem, stairwells have become makeshift bedrooms. The Israeli military’s Home Front Command has evacuated hundreds of people to hotels after buildings that were hit were deemed uninhabitable.

‘No shelter in our building’

Yacov Shemesh, a retired social worker in West Jerusalem, said his wife has been sleeping on the stairs in their apartment block since the attacks began.

“There’s no shelter in our building,” the 74-year-old explained. “I went to the roof Sunday night to see what was happening. I saw a flash in the sky and then a boom. But I couldn’t find anything in the news. Maybe they [the state] don’t want us to know how close it came.”

The barrage has triggered panic in a society long shaped by conflict – but where, until now, the destruction and wars were inflicted elsewhere – in Gaza, Jenin or southern Lebanon. Now, many Israelis are being confronted with destruction in their home cities for the first time.

In Tel Aviv, long lines snaked through the aisles of a grocery store. Despite being crowded, the atmosphere was hushed as customers tapped their phones, their faces drawn tight.

Gil Simchon, 38, a farmer from near the Ramat David Airbase, east of Haifa, stacked bottles of water in his arms.

“It’s one thing to hear for decades about the Iranian threat,” he said, “but another to see it with your own eyes – to see high rises in Tel Aviv hit.”

On Monday night, he used a bomb shelter for the first time in his life.

Even the Kirya, Israel’s military headquarters in Tel Aviv, was struck although damage was limited. Iran’s ability to hit such a fortified and symbolically vital target has deeply rattled a population raised on the reliability of its multilayered defence architecture.

While much of Israel is covered by the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow defence systems, officials admit these were not designed for a saturation attack involving ballistic missiles with heavy warheads. “These aren’t homemade rockets from Gaza,” one analyst said on Israeli television. “These are battlefield weapons.”

On Saturday night, the streets of West Jerusalem were quiet. One of the few lit spaces was a gym. Its owner gestured to the staircase descending underground. “We’re protected,” he said. Then with a smile, he added, “Gymgoers are crazy. If you’re working out at night, the gym had better be open.”

Outside, the night air buzzed with tension. A neon sign flared against the darkness. A small group gathered, eyes fixed on the sky. Moments earlier, streaks of light had passed overhead.

“They’re headed somewhere else – Haifa, I think,” a young man muttered. Minutes later, sirens wailed. Video soon appeared online showing flames erupting from a gas installation near Haifa.

Initially, social media was flooded with footage of missile impacts – some from residential balconies, others from dashcams. By the third night, multiple reports were published of people being arrested for documenting the attacks while Israeli officials warned foreign media against breaking a ban on broadcasting such content, describing it as a security offence.

Meanwhile, fears of power outages are growing. In Tel Aviv, drivers queued at petrol stations, anxious to keep their tanks full. A father strapped his children into the back seat before speeding away. His eyes flicked to the clouds, then the rear-view mirror.

Israeli police inspect a damaged apartment near the site where an Iranian missile destroyed a three-storey building in the city of Tamra, killing four women, according to rescue workers and medics [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]

‘Protecting ourselves and making it worse’

For some Israelis abroad, a feeling of helplessness has deepened. Eran, 37, who lives and works in New York, spoke to his elderly parents near the city of Beit Shemesh. “They’ve gone to shelters before, but this time, the fear was different,” he tells Al Jazeera. “The shelter was full. When they returned home, they found pieces of interceptor debris in the yard.”

Eran, a former conscientious objector who refused Israel’s mandatory military draft – for which he spent time in jail – and asked to use a pseudonym for fear of state reprisal upon his return to Israel, has long been critical of Israeli policies. Now watching his family in danger, he feels more certain than ever.

“Israel claims to act for all Jews,” he said. “But its crimes in Gaza and elsewhere just bring danger to families like mine. Even in New York, it impacts me.”

For others, the picture is murkier.

“I don’t know any more where the line is between protecting ourselves and making it worse,” Gil said. “You grow up believing we’re defending something. But now, the missiles, the shelters, the fear – it feels like a cycle we can’t see out of.”

The Israeli government, meanwhile, has struck a belligerent tone, promising to make Tehran “pay a heavy price”. But in the shelters, tension is mixed with exhaustion and a growing recognition that something fundamental has changed.

“It’s like the feeling of a meat lover after they visit a meat-packing factory,” Gil said quietly. “You grow up on it, you believe in it – but when you see how it’s made, it makes you uneasy.”

Israel-Iran conflict: List of key events, June 17, 2025

On Monday, June 17, 2018, this is how things are going.

Fighting

  • As Israel increased its bombardment, several explosions shook locations across Iran, including its central and western provinces and Tehran’s densely populated capital.
  • According to the Israeli military, “12 missile launch and storage sites” were struck.
  • Isfahan province and Tabriz city are two of the areas targeted by Israel, while Tehran’s attacks were “continued and intense,” according to Iranian state media IRNA.
  • Iranian armed forces chief Ali Shadmani was killed in one of Israel’s military strikes in Tehran, according to the Israeli military.
  • Iranian missile attacks on a military intelligence center and a Mossad operations planning center were reportedly carried out by Iran in retaliatory strikes on parts of northern Israel and Tel Aviv.
  • Iranian air bases, which were the target of Iranian attacks, are being targeted by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, according to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
  • In addition, Iran’s army claimed to have intercepted and tracked 28 “hostile aircraft” within the last 24 hours, with one of them allegedly being a spy drone attempting to gather information from “sensitive” websites.
  • The Iranian Armed Forces’ chief of staff, Abdolrahim Mousavi, said the attacks had been “warning for deterrence” and that “the punitive operation will be executed soon”

Accidents and turbulence

  • Three people died in the strikes on Kashan, the capital city, on Monday, according to Iran, including three who were killed in Israel’s attack on a State television building.
  • On Tuesday, Israel did not report any fatalities.
  • The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that it had analyzed more satellite imagery for Israel’s recent attacks on Iranian nuclear sites and that it had found additional “direct impacts” on the “underground enrichment halls” in the Natanz facility.
  • The IAEA added that its analysis did not show any change at the two other significant nuclear installations that Israel had targeted in its wake, Isfahan and Fordow.
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern about the potential health risks and devastating effects on civilians caused by Israel’s nuclear-site attacks on Iran.
  • In recent days, over 600 foreign nationals have flown from Iran into neighboring Azerbaijan, including Americans from Russia, Germany, Spain, Italy, Romania, and the United States, among others.
  • The latest nations to advise their citizens to leave Israel and Iran, invoking “significant deterioration of the security situation” in the region, are China, South Korea, and Ukraine.

Diplomacy

  • After leaving the G7 summit early, US President Donald Trump stated that he wants a “real end” with Iran “giving up entirely” on nuclear weapons but is not pushing for an Israeli-Iran ceasefire.
  • Without further clarification, he also threatened to assassinate Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a thinly veiled threat to “we now have complete and control over the skies over Iran”.
  • Trump may take “further action to end Iranian enrichment,” according to US Vice President JD Vance.
  • Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, stated that Russia is willing to play the role of a mediator, but that Israel is “reluctant” to engage in dialogue.
  • The Russian government’s foreign ministry criticized Israel’s continued attacks as unlawful.
  • King Abdullah II of Jordan warned that Israel’s “attacks” on Iran “could threaten to seriously upend tensions and pose a threat to people everywhere.”
  • Qatar also criticized Israel’s attacks, calling them “an uncalculated measure that will have very dire repercussions.”
  • Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, vowed to oppose military action against Iran that might lead to a possible “chaos” and regime change.
  • Yemen’s political bureau, led by Houthi activist Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, said the organization would “intervene in support of Tehran against Zionist aggressions” and that it would support any Arab or Muslim nation under attack.

Airbus strikes Vietjet deal at Paris Air Show, hopes for tariff rollback

As the aviation industry’s hopes of returning to a tariff-free trade agreement were boosted by US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Airbus has reached a deal with Vietnamese budget airline Vietjet for up to 150 single-aisle jets at the Paris Air Show.

The deal was made public on Tuesday by the French airline maker.

Airbus accounts for 86 percent of Vietnam’s jets, which is the main supplier of jets. Washington is putting pressure on the export-dependent Southeast Asian nation to purchase more US goods.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, the chairwoman of Vietjet, stated that plans to create a significant aviation hub in Vietnam, which Airbus claims has seen its aviation market grow by 7.5 percent annually, supported the airline’s order volume.

According to estimates from Cirium Ascend, a deal for 150 A321neos could be worth about $9.4 billion.

The agreement was the most recent business announcement made by Airbus at Paris, France’s largest aviation trade fair.

As airlines reconsider purchasing US-made jets in response to ongoing tariff threats in recent months, Airbus has gained ground over Boeing, its main rival. In response to tariff threats, Ryanair, a budget airline, threatened to cancel Boeing aircraft orders in May.

A tariff truce?

One of the most obvious indications yet that US President Donald Trump’s administration would favor a return to a 1979 zero-tariff trade agreement was Duffy’s claim that he wanted civil aviation. Duffy added, “While the White House was aware that the US was a net exporter of aerospace,” the country also was in a complicated tariff situation.

You should check the impact that free trade has had on aviation, once more. They have had a remarkable time. It’s a fantastic export market, Duffy claimed. The White House is aware of this, but if you go there and observe the moving parts of what they are dealing with, it can be quite intense and overwhelming.

Trump’s sweeping 10 percent import tariffs pose a problem for a sector that is already grappling with supply chain issues and Middle Eastern conflict that was the result of last week’s deadly Air India crash and conflict.

The US Commerce Department launched a “Section 232” national security investigation into the imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines, and other components that might lead to even higher tariffs on those items in early May.

Trump has been under intense lobbying from airlines, plane manufacturers, and a number of US trading partners to reinstate the 1979 agreement’s tariff-free regime.

Boeing was holding a subdued show and parking announcement while examining the investigation into the fatal crash of an Air India Boeing 787 last week and the deal-making Trump Middle East tour.

AirAsia, a well-known Airbus customer, was the subject of a new focus, with Brazil’s Embraer looking to buy 100 A220s after losing a crucial Polish contest, according to delegates. Additionally, it was anticipated that Airbus would reveal Egyptair as the source of a recent, unidentified order for six more A350s.

Donald Trump calls Iran’s leader an ‘easy target’ amid conflict with Israel

Donald Trump and J.D. Vance both posted tweets suggesting that the US might be involved in the Iran-Israel conflict, with Trump even suggesting that violence might be waged against the Iranian leadership.

Vance, who defended Trump’s handling of the conflict and blamed Iran for continuing its nuclear enrichment program, wrote the first of Tuesday’s posts.

Iran cannot be enriched with uranium, according to the president. And he repeatedly claimed that this would take place in either the “other” way or the “easy way,” according to Vance.

The vice president then proceeded to describe the potential “other way.”

According to Vance, “the president has shown remarkable restraint in keeping our military’s attention on our troops and our citizens.” He may decide to stop Iranian enrichment by taking additional measures. The president ultimately has the authority to make that choice.

Less than an hour later, Trump himself raised the bar. The president appeared to threaten Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on his Truth Social platform and demanded that the nation’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” be made.

Trump wrote that “we are aware of where the so-called ” Supreme Leader” is hiding.

“We are not going to take him out (kill! ),” but he is an easy target. for the time being, at least not yet. However, we oppose firing missiles at American soldiers or civilians. Our patience is waning.

Iran and Israel continue to fire missiles, prompting experts to warn of a regional war.

Concerning whether and how the US might get involved has been raised by that possibility.

Trump has already stated that he was aware of Israel’s initial attack on June 13 and that the Israeli Prime Minister’s government has petitioned him to join its military action against Iran.

The Trump administration has maintained a distance between itself and Israel, a steadfast ally.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the US was “not involved in]the] strikes against Iran on the night the first attacks were launched by Israel.

shifting sound

However, some critics speculated that Trump may be gradually making a case for US military intervention in the conflict.

Prior to the bombing, negotiations between the US and Iran had lasted for months trying to restrain Iran’s nuclear program. Due to the escalating violence, a second round of negotiations was scheduled for the weekend.

In the name of “protecting US forces,” the US has since relocated military installations and warships in the area.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated in a statement that “these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region.”

Trump, in contrast, claims that Iran’s inability to reduce its nuclear program is to blame for the conflict. He once more stressed that Iran had missed an opportunity to avoid conflict as he returned from the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada overnight.

They ought to have concluded the transaction. Trump told reporters, “Do the deal,” and I said that. “So I’m not sure,” I’m not at all willing to negotiate.

Iran has long refuted its desire to possess nuclear weapons. However, worries that it might develop one continue to rage against Israel, the United States, and other nations for decades.

Iran agreed to reduce its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief in 2015 by signing a deal with the US, China, Russia, France, Germany, the UK, and the European Union. However, Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the pact in 2018, causing it to fall apart during his first term in office.

Since then, he has continued his campaign of “maximum pressure” on Iran and other US allies during his second term.

Trump attributed Iran to Houthi rebels’ attacks in March, saying that “IRAN will be held accountable, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire”!

Nuclear-related inquiry

Even among Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters, those threats have heightened concerns that the US might once more engage in a costly foreign war.

For instance, the Tucker Carlson Network, which is led by the eponymous conservative commentator, published a morning newsletter to lobby against US involvement in the Iran-Israel conflict on Friday.

Israel has every right to declare, “If it wants to start this war, it has no excuse.” It has complete independence and is free to do whatever it pleases. However, the newsletter stated that it did not have America’s support.

Lawmakers have also taken steps to avert any potential US involvement in the conflict.

Republican US Representative Thomas Massie and Democratic colleague Ro Khanna of California announced on Tuesday that the Iran War Powers Resolution would require the president to obtain congressional approval before engaging in the conflict.

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine unveiled a bill that sounded similar just a day earlier. The president would have been instructed to “terminate the use of US armed forces for hostilities against Iran.”

However, the Trump administration has argued that Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons is a dangerous line to cross. Trump “has never wavered” in his position, according to a statement released on Tuesday, which included references to dozens of his prior statements.

However, critics have criticized Trump for dissensing with some of his own inner circle members, who have doubted Iran’s ability to possess nuclear weapons.

For instance, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, claimed that the US “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and that Khamenei, the president’s suspended nuclear weapons program, has not authorized.”

Trump, however, refrained from Gabbard’s assessment during his overnight flight back to the US. She said, “I don’t care what she said. They’re “very close to having it,” he told reporters.

Since then, Gabbard herself has since stated that her remarks were in line with the president’s position.

However, the Trump administration’s contradictory statements have posed questions about how Iran’s position on military ties to the Middle East might change over time.

The advocacy group MPower Change Action Fund, led by Yasmine Taeb, is the legislative and political director of Gabbard’s congressional testimony, which is consistent with the findings of the US intelligence community as a whole.

Trump’s refusal to even rely on the advice of his own intelligence is just reprehensible and reckless, she told Al Jazeera.

According to Jamal Abdi, president of the think-tank and political organization National Iranian American Council (NIAC), Trump’s comments raise questions about the sources of information he relies on.

He told Al Jazeera, “This makes really clear that this is a war of choice.” Who is he listening to if he doesn’t listen to the intelligence community in which he lives? Is Netanyahu speaking?

According to Abdi, “at least when] former US President] George W. Bush launched his endless war, he had the right to tell us lies about WMDs and [weapons of mass destruction],” he continued, citing the claim that contributed to the US’s invasion of Iraq in 2003.

UN fact-finding mission says Sudan conflict escalating, aid weaponised

The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan has warned that the use of heavy weapons in densely populated areas has become more prevalent as a result of the country’s civil war, with disastrous consequences for civilians.

The Sudanese conflict is still ongoing, according to Mohamed Chande Othman, the head of the UN Human Rights Council, on Tuesday.

“Human suffering is getting worse every day. An ever-deadlier crisis is being fueled by the fragmentation of government, the militarization of society, and the involvement of foreign actors.

According to UN data, the brutal conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted in April 2023, which left tens of thousands of civilians dead and more than 13 million people displaced.

Sudan is currently experiencing the “worst humanitarian crisis” according to a previous UN statement.

According to the mission, both sides increased the use of heavy weapons in densely populated areas. Six civilians were killed in a May drone strike by an RSF-led attack on Obeid International Hospital in North Kordofan, and at least 15 were killed earlier this month by an SAF bombing in Al Koma.

According to the group, the SAF, which imposed bureaucratic restrictions, and the RSF, which looted convoys and blocked aid, were also using aid.

Additionally, the mission found that there is a significant rise in sexual and gender-based violence, most recently in RSF-controlled displacement camps, including gang rape, abduction, sexual slavery, and forced marriage.

What started out as a political and security crisis, according to Mona Rishmawi, a member of the fact-finding mission, has turned into “a grave human rights and protection emergency, marked by international crimes that stain all involved.”

She said, “It is unconscionable that this devastating war is now entering its third year with no sign of end.”

Since Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s long-time leader, was ousted in 2019 following months of anti-government protests, the country has experienced growing instability.

Abdalla Hamdok, the prime minister’s resignation in early 2022 was the result of the Sudanese military’s coup attempt in October of that year.

After the coup, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the army chief of Sudan, and his rival Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the RSF’s leader, shared power, but in April 2023, they started fighting for state and resources.

The Sudanese Army accused Khalifa Haftar’s forces of attacking Sudanese border posts last week, marking the first time it had ever charged its neighbor in the northwestern region with directly engaging in civil war.