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bomb shelters

Reporter's notebook
Pre-state vaults and ancient cisterns provide shelter for Jerusalemites again under siege
By Zev Stub
In a city where thousands of buildings lack safe rooms offering protection from Iranian rockets, many residents run to improvised spots rich with historical significance
As Iran threat returns, private safe rooms factor again into cost of living
By Zev Stub
Israelis gather in a dual-purpose bomb shelter in Arad, also used as a Haredi synagogue, during an alert for an Iranian missile attack on southern Israel on March 25, 2026. (Courtesy/Lilach Inbar Haviv)
March 29, 2026, 8:34 pm
In Arad, missile blast adds fuel to feud over shelters being used as synagogues
Residents of increasingly Haredi city say many public safe spaces are either decrepit or unusable due to renovations for dual-use, as war becomes latest battleground over religious influence
By Charlie Summers
Israeli security and rescue forces at the scene where a missile fired from Lebanon toward Israel caused damage in Kiryat Shmona, March 24, 2026. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
March 29, 2026, 2:20 pm
Daily Briefing Mar. 29 – Northerners feel grim amid war but firm on need to defeat Hezbollah
Reporters Diana Bletter and Sue Surkes discuss sense of isolation in Kiryat Shmona and Haifa, trauma help for Arab Israelis, and hospitals’ efforts to treat patients underground
By Jessica Steinberg, Sue Surkes and Diana Bletter
Israeli rapper Dudu Faruk performs inside a bomb shelter in Tel Aviv on March 19, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
March 29, 2026, 5:54 am
In Israel’s shelters, an ‘underground’ entertainment scene is born under missile fire
In typical Israeli style, entertainers, DJs and musicians make the most of a tough situation and distract residents sheltering from Iranian bombardment; social media channels spread the word
By Jessica Steinberg
An underground ward at Haifa's Rambam Health Care Campus, which serves as a parking lot in peacetime, used during Operation Roaring Lion in March 2026. (Courtesy/Spokesperson's office)
March 26, 2026, 8:39 pm
As Iranian missiles rain down, hospitals scramble to raise funds for underground shelters
With the Health Ministry’s budget recently slashed, medical centers around the country are using storage spaces and parking lots while seeking donations for more protected buildings
By Diana Bletter
A bride and her family sit in a bomb shelter after an alert warning of missiles fired from Iran at central Israel interrupted their wedding photo shoot in a nearby park in Ramat Gan, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
March 24, 2026, 12:13 pm
Weddings, yoga, medical care: Life goes on, somehow, in Israel’s underground shelters during war
Surreal images show country’s resilience; Tel Aviv’s Central Bus Station has become an impromptu home for a migrant community, while other shelters host kids’ play zones, prayer groups
By Oded Balilty and Melanie Lidman
Palestinians inspect the damage at a beauty salon after a deadly Iranian strike in the West Bank village of Beit Awwa, near Hebron, March 19, 2026. (AP/Mahmoud Illean)
March 24, 2026, 4:53 am
Deadly missile strike in West Bank highlights lack of protection for Palestinians
Threatened by Iranian fire and falling debris, Palestinians hear air raid sirens from settlements, but most have nowhere to go for cover, and few know how to deal with danger
By Nurit Yohanan
The scene where a missile fired from Iran toward Israel caused damage to residential buildings in the southern Israeli city of Dimona, March 22, 2026 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
March 22, 2026, 2:06 pm
Daily Briefing Mar. 22 — Amid missile strikes and rainstorms, IAF hunts Iranian launchers
Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian discusses un-intercepted Iranian strikes in Arad and Dimona, ongoing Air Force raids in Iran, and IDF troops in Lebanon
By Jessica Steinberg and Emanuel Fabian
A U.S. Air Force Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is seen on the runway at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv amid ongoing missile attacks from Iran toward Israel, March 5, 2026. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)
March 19, 2026, 2:42 pm
Daily Briefing Mar. 19 – Israelis grapple with Iran’s attritional missile fire
Tol editor David Horovitz discusses the relentless attacks from Iran and Hezbollah, airport strains, divergent messaging from Trump and Netanyahu, and essential war goals
By Jessica Steinberg and David Horovitz
People look at the damage after a missile fired toward Israel overnight struck the Bedouin town of Zarzir, in northern Israel, March 13, 2026. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)
March 18, 2026, 12:46 pm
Arab Israelis share Jews’ distrust of Iran, but not their appetite for war
Though most in the Arab community have little affinity for the Islamic Republic, few support the military campaign, seeing Tehran as less of a danger than the war’s potential cost
By Charlie Summers
A volunteer from the Purple Vest Mission moves a disabled man to a protected facility during Operation Roaring Lion. (Courtesy)
March 18, 2026, 9:59 am
‘We’re playing Russian roulette’: People with disabilities struggle to reach bomb shelters
Of the 600,000 severely disabled and elderly in Israel, about 40% — roughly 240,000 — cannot make it to safety as missiles fall from Iran and Lebanon, says Access Israel chairman
By Diana Bletter
A foreign worker drives a tractor near Shtula in northern Israel, next to the security wall on the border with southern Lebanon, January 8, 2026. (Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
March 17, 2026, 1:49 pm
For Israel’s most vulnerable workers, safety often comes second when missiles fly
Deaths of construction workers and a caregiver in Iranian attacks highlight dangers faced by laborers who feel forced to choose between shelter and livelihood
By Stav Levaton
Sharon Dinur, head of the preservation department at the Jerusalem Municipality
March 17, 2026, 5:55 am
Pre-state vaults and ancient cisterns provide shelter for Jerusalemites again under siege
In a city where thousands of buildings lack safe rooms offering protection from Iranian rockets, many residents run to improvised spots rich with historical significance
By Zev Stub
Damage after a missile fired toward Israel overnight struck Zarzir, in northern Israel, March 13, 2026. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)
March 16, 2026, 2:42 pm
Daily Briefing Mar. 16: MKs on both sides contest cuts for northern recovery to bolster defense
Political reporter Ariela Karmel reports on the contentious debate over long-planned spending for the north and the severe lack of shelters for Bedouin in the south
By Jessica Steinberg and Ariela Karmel
Illustrative: People take shelter in an underground metro station as air raid sirens warn of incoming strikes by Iran, in Ramat Gan, Israel, February 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
March 14, 2026, 10:34 am
For freed former hostages, the war with Iran is a trigger, but far from their darkest hour
With some ex-captives released as recently as this past October, the sirens and missile attacks stir up traumatic experiences, especially for those held underground in Hamas tunnels
By Jessica Steinberg
A Bedouin boy shelters from an Iranian missile under a concrete tunnel in the village of Wadi Na'am, March 2026. (Negev Coexistence Forum)
March 12, 2026, 8:26 am
With missiles flying again, most Negev Bedouin still exposed without any shelter
Barred from building safe rooms and lacking public shelters, many are forced to rely on inadequate protection, a problem endemic to Arab communities that the state has failed to deal with for years
By Ariela Karmel
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