War Special #1

How is the Israeli war with Iran affecting Israeli civilians?

Jun 14, 2025

The War Until Now

Before the ceasefire with Lebanon at the end of November, my region--at the border with Lebanon--was targeted daily by missiles and UAVs--unmanned aeriel vehicles, i.e., drones (many with bombs attached) sent by Hezbollah. In my region we have 5 seconds from the time these are launched to get to safety. Although we have underground communal shelters that saved lives during previous wars, the missiles and UAVs these days travel much faster. Newer apartments and houses have reinforced rooms called "safe rooms." In older places, one shelters in the most protected place--a hallway with closed doors to it, a staircase without windows. Bathrooms are not safe because damaged ceramic tile has knife-sharp edges.

Our Iron Dome destroys the vast majority of missles and UAVs from Hezbollah and Hamas while they are still high in the sky. The booms reverberate for miles. The pieces of the destroyed weapons fall out of the sky as shrapnel, which takes time. So from the time the siren starts until we can leave our safe place, ten minutes elapse. The vast majority of injuries incurred by civilians during this war, outside of the terror of October 7 that began this, have been shrapnel injuries; most of the rest have been caused by falls as people rush to shelter, or panic and heart attacks.

That was then.

Israel and Iran

First, understand that Israel's only complaint with Iran is that Iran has threatened repeatedly to completely wipe Israel off the map, and is close to having (if not already having) the atomic bomb. Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran and Israel had excellent relations and reports are that the majority of Iranian citizens hold friendly feelings toward Israel. Persia, the ancient name for Iran, has had a Jewish population for well over 2,000 years, although the majority of Jews left at the time of the Islamic Revolution. Iran is about 75 times larger than Israel and has a population 10 times greater than Israel (96 million vs 9.6 million).

War with Iran

Israel "began" this war because Iran is only days or weeks away from completing its atomic bombs, which it has openly said are to destroy Israel. We had no choice but to take preemptive strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities and those responsible for them. This war is literally a war for Israel's survival.
Israel is targeting military and nuclear installations in Iran, not population centers. We have no interest in conquering the nation of Iran, although we would like it if the Iranian opposition to the present jihadist regime would overthrow their government and create a democratic one with western values instead.

Iran is trying to overwhelm our defense system. Friday night, about 200 missiles were sent in five waves, covering virtually every corner of this tiny country. The Iranian missiles are sent from far away, so there is plenty of warning once they are shot off. But they are much larger and heavier than those of Hezbollah and Hamas, and sent with true seriously destructive warheads. Sitting in a stairwell or in the hallway of a top-floor apartment will not save a person if their building, or those nearby, receive a direct hit. This is the situation in which we find ourselves.

Living in This War

We were awakened by our civil defense siren at 3 am Friday morning, but the siren was different than usual. My civil defense app was not working--notifications had been shut off automatically because of lack of use since the ceasefire at the end of November. I did not know what was happening. I put on my robe and slippers, covered my hair, and went outside, where one of my neighbors explained. We waited for about an hour for more information and finally returned to our apartments, but I slept only about one more hour before I got up.

By 7:15 AM my good friends invited me to stay with them. I took my little dog Dolly, my laptop, and a small suitcase, and went. The daughter set up temporary quarters for herself on the top floor of the house and gave me and Dolly her lovely room. The others are crowded. Some children are sleeping in the ground-floor reinforced room, others in small bedrooms with their parents. I am the only one with a private room.

Around 1 AM Saturday morning I was awakened by the new "alert announcement" telling us that missiles have been fired, and if we are in the line of attack we will be notified to go immediately to our safe room. However, we will still have several moments, not the five seconds we had. I immediately put on my robe, slippers and hat, picked up my Book of Psalms, and read a group of psalms that have been recommended for protection of Israel.ⁱ About the time I finished the psalms, the siren went off and I went down to the safe room. The majority of the floor was covered with thin mattresses on which children were sleeping, like puppies in a carton. In a few moments, all of us were assembled there. In another moment or two we heard the missiles being destroyed by a series of booms, one so loud that it shook the house. We waited another fifteen or twenty minutes, and then went back to our rooms. Some of the younger children did not wake up.

Share Tante Hanna Writes

Around 5 am we had another attack, which followed the same pattern. We fully expect tonight's sleep to be interrupted too.

Grocery stores, pharmacies, and emergency medical services are available, City Hall is closed to nonemployees, and only essential services will be open. The crowd of us staying in this one house will remain here for the forseeable future.

I will remain with my friends for the forseeable future, as will the others. We do not know what the coming days will bring. For the time being, I remain here, as safe as is humanly possible. We are filled with optimism and faith that God will continue to protect us and bring this conflict to an end that will be positive for us and for the world.

As I write this, we had another announcement. I sent this out, and 2 minutes later the attack warning sounded. We crowded into the safe room and waited, listened to the booms, and waited again until we were told we could safely leave the safe room.

Your prayers are welcome.

i These psalms are 20, 79, 83, 121, 123, 130, and 142. It is worth noting that 142 was added to this list in this war for the protection and freeing of our hostages, about 51 of whom are thought to still be alive in Gaza.