Tel Aviv, Israel
CNN
–
As Iran and Israel have spread deadly attacks on each other, a red warning siren warning that Israelis are scrambling to bomb shelters over the past three nights have bombed Israelis.
Under Israeli law, all homes and industrial buildings built since the early 1990s have shelter, but for years they were retrofits and often used as extra storage rooms, packed with unrelated belongings. Now, Israelis had few options other than preparing small rooms for their long stays.
In central Israel, Livi Ginsburg laid out two mattresses for her three grandchildren, painting some toys and coloring books.
“I don’t know,” she told CNN and sighed. “They’re always prepared to be here for a long time, so we prepared for snacks, water and, more importantly, for the kids.”
This uncertainty has permeated families across the country with a sense of not knowing what will come next or how this will end. Israel vowed to continue its attack on Iran, but Iran said retaliation would not cease.
With the latest updates on mobile phones after opening hours and glued to TV, the Ginzburg family prepared for another night’s race between the bedroom and the bomb shelter. Their unity is only slightly dulling the edge of tension.
“When you’re with your kids and family at home, you can laugh,” Ginzburg said. “The situation is far from funny, but you have to maintain your sanity. You have to maintain normalcy with your family.”
Bomb shelters do not offer unmistakable protection. According to Lt. Col. Tali Verno Eisswisman, representative of Israel’s Home Front Command, Iranian ballistic missiles attacked Peta Tikva’s family shelter on Peta Tikva and killed the people inside.
“There was a direct hit on the walls of the bomb shelter,” Eyman said. “Under the bomb shelter and bomb shelter above () people came out without getting hurt. Still, bomb shelter is the best and safest place.”
In Rehovot’s apartment, Moria Shipony attempts to hide her stress from her three children. “I can’t run away or go anywhere,” she told CNN. As the sirens push the residents into an aging shelter, Shipney grabs what has become her survival bag, filled with chargers, water and snacks, leading the family downstairs. With 30 people full, she says the shelter gets hot and slumped rapidly.
“The kids are asking when this all will end. I don’t have an answer,” Shipney said. “That’s frustrating. I can’t guarantee that everything will go well. There’s nothing I can do other than wake up in the middle of the night and take me to the shelter.”
Shipony attempted to explain to his family the existential threat Israel is seeing in Iran, but told CNN what was difficult.
“It’s very difficult to have a prime minister trying to survive politically and not bring our own political views to this,” she said. “It’s hard to answer all of that. Often (the kids) will ask questions we don’t have an answer, so we tell them we’re trying our best to do as best we can.”
Noi Vitan, a student at Hebrew University, left his apartment in Jerusalem for his parents’ home in Ashdod, a coastal city about 20 miles north of Gaza. Since there is no shelter in her apartment, she has to run for cover to reach a shared shelter that connects her parents’ home to her neighbors.
The shelter, she says, “it’s only a few square meters in size,” needs to fit 10 people in a room with only four chairs. Anyone carrying a child will take their seats, Vitan said.
“Everyone is calm,” added Vitan. “And usually we control it.”