Israelis beginning to ask, ‘How long is this going to last?'
The search continues in the rubble, in Tel Aviv in particular, for more casualties. So the death toll could possibly rise. Five people have been confirmed dead in these overnight attacks by Iran.
One building has collapsed in the Tel Aviv area. The American embassy also sustained light damage from shrapnel. Damage was not just done to residential areas. The power grid in Haifa was also hit and the crews are still repairing it.
The Iranian attacks were successive. It wasn’t just one barrage of missiles, so Israeli residents in the centre and north went in and out of shelters throughout the night.
Everybody remains on high alert. You can’t really abandon your phone, for example, as you have to follow alert instructions and listen for sirens. Most Israelis get 10-15 minutes of advanced warning.
They’re being told they have to brace themselves for days, possibly more, of a life like this: no school, no businesses, no planes in and out. So this is a lot of stress on the society and the economy – and this is why we’re hearing Israelis beginning to say ‘Well, how long is this going to last?'”
Rescue teams work at a site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv on Monday
Death toll in Israel rises to 8: Report
The official Israeli Army Radio is reporting that the death toll from the latest Iranian attacks has now risen to eight. That’s after the three missing people in the city of Haifa were confirmed dead, the outlet said. Earlier, another five people were reported killed in central Israel.
This means that more than 20 people have been killed in Israel since the country’s military launched the attacks on Iran four days ago. More than 300 others have also been wounded.
Israelis ‘now realising’ what Palestinians and Lebanese have been suffering
Elijah Magnier, a military and political analyst, says he believes the hostilities between Israel and Iran will only get worse, but that Israeli support for the war may wane if the destruction continues.
“I think it’s going to continue escalating because we are just in the first days of the war that Israel declared on Iran,” he told Al Jazeera.
“And also the Israeli officials, the prime minister and the army, have all warned Israeli society that this war is going to be heavy and … the price is going to be extremely high. But the society that stands behind Benjamin Netanyahu and supports the war on Iran did not expect this level of destruction because, since 1973, Israel has not waged a war on a country and never been attacked on this scale, right in the heart of Tel Aviv,” Magnier said from Paris.
“So now they are realising what the Palestinians have been suffering, what the Lebanese have been suffering, and they see the destruction in front of them, buildings in Tel Aviv, in Haifa destroyed, fire everywhere. The properties no longer exist. Eight people killed, 250 wounded in one day. That’s unheard of since a very long time in Israel. So, all that is not something that the Israeli society has been ready for,” he added.
