Wary Israelis fear further escalation with Iran
Iran’s first ever direct attack on Israel on April 15 has left Israelis expecting the worst, fearing a full-blown regional war, Reuters reported.
Tensions have heightened in an already hostile region as Israel struck the Iranian embassy in Damascus on April 1, causing the deaths of a vast number of key Iranian military officials as well as five civilians.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stressed that Israel “would be punished” for the attack. Punished they were to a certain degree, Tehran launched 300 drones and missiles into Israel in the small hours of April 15 however the IDF announced that minimal damage was caused as the air force intercepted the overwhelming majority of Iranian strikes.
Some damage was done to the Nevatim airbase in the Negev Desert (southern Israel) and the only reported casualty was a severely injured seven-year-old child from the Bedouin community, who lived near the base and was struck by shrapnel.
As well as battling Iran directly most recently, Israel has been trading blows with Iran proxies such as Hezbollah at its southern border on a near-daily basis since October, Gaza-controlling militants Hamas and Israeli ships have been targeted on numerous occasions by Yemeni rebels Houthis in the Red Sea.
Although Tel Aviv has insisted that they are only fighting Hamas in the Palestinian enclave and that they are being precise in their strikes, 34,000 have been killed, 70% of whom were women and children, since Hamas’ rampage on October 7.
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Jerusalem resident Cecile Smulowitz described how afraid she was during Iranian retaliation strikes: “I think it was quite scary when we started hearing booming in the middle of the night, and we did not know what it was. I mean, we knew what it was, but we didn’t know to what extent it would be, but thank God the Israeli army came through, and so far it’s quiet, and we hope it will continue that way.”
Tzur Hadassah (a village just over 10km away from Jerusalem) resident, Jeremy Smith noted: “I hope there won’t be a big war; none of us in Israel wants a big war, so I hope that’s it, and I hope Iran would stop now.
“I imagine Israel will respond because, I mean, our whole country was covered in missiles and drones. So what can you do? But we have to stop it somehow.”
Other citizens insisted that Israel did not want a war with Iran or Hamas and that it is them “who want a war with us”.
Hamas rejected the most recent Israeli ceasefire proposal, arguing it was not concrete and did not call for a permanent cessation of hostilities.
A spokesperson for the group said, “We reaffirm our adherence to our demands and the national demands of our people; with a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the occupation (Israeli) army from the entire Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced to their areas and places of residence, intensification of the entry of relief and aid, and the start of reconstruction.”
Reuters
