Shaken but okay, Israelis pick up pieces at site of Tel Aviv missile strike

Buildings three blocks away from the site of an Iranian missile impact in Tel Aviv show signs of damage, including cracked windows. Closer to the impact site, businesses and apartments are largely bombed out. A 15-story high-rise overlooking the impact site over a parking lot is left entirely windowless.

Despite the paucity of safe rooms in the area, only four people were hurt in the attack and treated for light to moderate injuries, Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital reports.

Two buildings were completely destroyed by the blast. Emergency services were still working to clear the rubble early Monday afternoon as officers, soldiers and a large group of curious civilians milled about.

Nearby, a mobile municipality command center is coordinating affected residents’ evacuation to hotels.

As anguished-looking residents wait on the sidewalk with bags and suitcases, one resident with a large black suitcase asks to retrieve valuables from his apartment within the cordoned-off zone, just across from buildings being razed. A security guard tells him that’s impossible until the demolition is over.

“It could take 20 minutes, it could take three hours,” says the guard.

Dorit and Ofer, who live about five buildings down from the fall site, recall hearing a huge boom as they sheltered in the packed community safe room during the attack. Their own apartment escaped relatively okay, they say.

“Some windows broke, walls cracked,” says Dorit. “But it’s not like that,” she adds, pointing across the street to a newly windowless apartment building.

Business owners in the area sweep up glass, taking stock of what remains.

A sex shop, a liquor store and a Russian restaurant are among those that were practically destroyed.

“Are you an appraiser?” asks Tzipi, hopefully, as she catches the eye of a Times of Israel reporter.

Tzipi sells cute porcelain pieces about 100 meters (yards) uphill from the impact site. Some of the statuettes broke, and the front window of the shop has shattered. She appears skeptical that insurance will do much good.

“It’s nothing. The important thing is that we’re healthy,” she says.