Odeh slams lack of protective shelters in Arab communities

By Sam Sokol 15 June 2025, 1:20 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Members of the search and rescue team check the rubble of a damaged building in the northern Israeli town of Tamra, following an overnigh missile attack from Iran on June 15, 2025, where four people, including a child, were killed. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

Hadash-Ta’al party chairman Ayman Odeh slams the government for not providing enough public shelters, especially for Arab municipalities, following a deadly Iranian missile strike in the northern city of Tamra, which killed four residents.

“Tamra is not a village. It is a city of 37,000 residents. A city without public shelters. The heavy price of neglect, as well as of war, is now being revealed before our eyes,” Odeh posts on X following a visit to the scene of the tragedy.

During Saturday night’s Iranian barrage, a missile struck a two-story home in Tamra, killing four women and injuring some 10 people. The women were named as Manar Khatib and her two daughters, Hala, 20, and Shada, 13, as well as another relative, also named Manar Khatib.

“And it’s not just in Tamra: about 60% of local authorities in Israel lack public shelters completely. The threat that now looms over us all, a threat of unprecedented destruction, does not distinguish between blood and blood. But the state, unfortunately, still distinguishes between blood and blood,” he continues, stating that his “heart goes out to all the residents of this country, Jews and Palestinians alike.”

“No to war with Iran, enough of the war of annihilation in Gaza. Agreements save lives. Dictators think wars save them,” he asserts.