In War Against Iran, Israelis Face Challenges They Were Never Familiar With

When Israel first targeted Iran on June 13 in what it called precision strikes to curtail Tehran's nuclear ambitions and killing high-ranking officials, not many thought Tehran would retaliate on this scale. The regional foes have since struck and counter-struck each other in what's now a full-fledged aerial conflict.

As part of its Operation Rising Lion, Israel's military campaign has killed at least 224 Iranians, including top commanders, intelligence heads and up to 14 nuclear scientists.

In response, Iran has launched daily missile barrages into Israel for the past five days. Cities like Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Rishon LeZion have borne the brunt. At least 14 Israeli civilians have been killed and many injured, with residential buildings being the direct target, sparking fires and forcing mass evacuations.

And the war has, for the first time perhaps in decades, made Israelis question their sense of security.

In Tel Aviv, schools and offices have reportedly shut, public gatherings are banned, and residents have begun fleeing the city or spending nights in bomb shelters. Most missile attacks occur after nightfall. "The fact that you don't know if the missiles are about to fall on you, that we are now living with this feeling of helplessness, it's insane," nurse Ella Keren told The Washington Post on Tuesday.

As the barrage continues, faith in Israel's famed missile defence system is being tested like never before. While the Iron Dome once boasted a 90 per cent interception rate against rockets from Gaza, Iranian missiles are proving far more sophisticated with heavier warheads and deeper penetration. Several have breached defences and directly hit residential neighbourhoods, reportedly pushing over 2,700 Israelis to evacuate their homes.

"Each time, it's like a new extreme, with everything even more uncertain, seeming even farther away from ending," said Idan Tal Mor, a 37-year-old theatre teacher from Tel Aviv. He fled to a basement shelter as sirens wailed, then returned to find his apartment windows blown out. "I don't know if my neighbours survived," he said. He has now relocated to his parent's home in Hadera.

On Monday, four people were killed in Petach Tikva after a missile landed between two safe rooms in an apartment building. The same night, three were killed in a strike on Haifa's oil refinery. 

Dana Avesar, 34, who works at a Tel Aviv start-up, has taken shelter with her husband on his pineapple farm in Talmei Yosef. Her apartment was only blocks from a building struck Monday.

"I don't want to go to sleep, because I don't want another thing to happen," she said. "But I also feel like, for the first time, this escalation with Iran offers a glimmer of hope... maybe, maybe, it is a unique chance to build a more long-term defence."

Israel's airstrikes have hammered critical infrastructure across Iran, striking nuclear facilities at Natanz, Isfahan, alongside major missile sites, military bases, and IRGC command centres in Tehran.

The country's key energy hubs, including the South Pars gas field and a natural gas processing plant, have also been hit. Iran's state-run broadcaster IRIB's headquarters was also among the targets.