Over the past 12 days, I have documented the daily scenes of Iranian missile strikes in Israel, which have occurred mostly at night. To some I arrived just minutes after impact, while the fires were still burning and the wounded were being pulled from the rubble.
Arriving in the dark is always deceptive — you don’t see much besides the ambulances and fire trucks. Gradually, with the first light of day, the true scale of the disaster site is revealed: how many homes, vehicles, and windows were damaged, over what radius, and whether people are still buried under the rubble. Hours after the impact, residents return to try to salvage some of their belongings while neighbors and curious onlookers arrive to inspect the damage.
At the deadly scene in Bat Yam where nine people were killed, rescue teams worked for days to clear the debris and retrieve all the bodies. The collapsed buildings, gaping crater, ash-covered trees and cars, and people fleeing in pajamas with their children and belongings in their arms eerily resemble the images Israelis have seen coming out of Gaza over the past two years — even despite the media’s self-censorship. ….more