Old followers of this channel may remember the articles and videos I posted when the Syria map was released a few years ago. Most information was provided by a friend living in Tel-Aviv: AssafB, a friend from my time in the 132nd Virtual Wing.
Assaf also hosted a few excellent presentations spanning from the history of modern Israel and the conflicts with its neighbour to a brilliant introduction to CAS control.
This story began in June 2021, the never-peaceful situation in those areas took a turn for the worse, and he told the story of the reality of living under the so-called “Iron Dome”.
A few years have passed, and the events of 7 October changed many things. I invite everyone to read, listen, or watch, depending on the media of your choice, until the very end.
The situation discussed in this video is surely controversial. The message normally depicted is far too disconnected from the lives of common people living those realities. It is turned into a black-versus-white confrontation, and the “blame game” begins. But that is not the case here. Instead, I found Assaf’s message quite universal and relatable to all those families unfortunately living through similar events. Because when bombs and rockets start falling, and you are running to a shelter with your children, politics are the last thing that matters.
I started this thread some years back, trying to describe how it feels like to be an ordinary civilian rather than a soldier or decision-maker. A guy with a wife and a little kid living in a place that’s occasionally on the receiving end of rockets coming from the Gaza Strip.
Since then, everything has changed.We’ve lived through that Saturday—October 7th—which marked the beginning of another devastating war. That war brought with it emotions and experiences that are still hard to put into words, even nearly two years later.
Given the thread’s focus on “rockets and shelters,” I thought it was time to update and reflect on what’s changed since my original post. As before, I’ll do my very best to keep things factual or, at the very least, describe how I – and we – perceived it from our own little corner and perspective. If there’s ANY stench of politics, ethnicity or other coming from this wall of text, then please do forgive me and believe me that it was unintentional.The Early Days: October 2023.
October 7 and the days that followed saw a sharp increase in rocket attacks from Gaza. Our routine was the same as before: huddle in a safe corner of our apartment, wait 10 minutes, and move on. No, we never really get used to that experience. Even after many dozens of alerts, the tension and fear are always there. Rockets are statistical weapons. They are neither accurate nor efficient, and yet we had a couple of impacts within one kilometer of our home. One, in an open field, and the other, a direct hit in an apartment building which destroyed an apartment, but its occupants were in the shelter and safe.
But this time, there was real fear that Hezbollah would join in from the north. Their arsenal included a LOT of heavy rockets and suicide drones—both capable of reaching Tel Aviv. Our apartment’s safe corner felt inadequate against these threats for an extended period.
Homefront Command advised: if you can’t reach a shelter in 90 seconds, go to the building’s internal staircase and descend one floor. So we tried it. We explained the plan to my son, then 7, and that evening, we went down to the second floor.Usually calm during sirens, my son was visibly distressed. After we returned, he burst into tears—worried about Grey, his cat, who was still at home upstairs. That moment made it clear: the emotional toll on him outweighed the marginal safety gain. We decided to stay in our usual spot from then on.
A couple of weeks into the war, I took it upon myself to clean out the building’s long-neglected bomb shelter. It was mostly a distraction from the news, but after a week of work, it was usable. Hezbollah hadn’t yet begun targeting Tel Aviv, so we kept it as a backup.Mid-2024
By mid-2024, Hezbollah began launching rockets into central Israel. Though at a pace less intense than feared, we did use the shelter a few times. My son, now 9, was more composed. This was a huge relief to us, but at the same time, it saddened us that a 9-year-old kid is “getting used” to going down to a bomb shelter when his home is being targeted by rockets.
Around the same time, Houthis joined in as well. After sounding threats and disrupting maritime traffic in Bab-El-Mandeb, they started firing Iranian-made ballistic missiles at Israel. These were heavier than anything from Hamas or Hezbollah but came in smaller barrages, making them easier to intercept. Also, the range and type of missiles allowed Home Front the ability to provide one more step of early warning to civilians.
Once a ballistic missile launch was detected, they would already have been engaged by naval vessels – ours as well as Americans – stationed along the Red Sea.If that didn’t work, and as the missile advanced a few more seconds, there would already be an estimated impact area. We would then receive alerts on our smartphones about a missile launch detection and a note that alerts are likely-but-not-positively to be activated in about five minutes. This time would be spent by the air defense trying again to intercept the missile, typically by ARROW-2, ARROW-3 or American THAAD batteries that were deployed in Israel.
Unless the incoming missile broke up on its own early on (which happens surprisingly often…), the sirens and specific area alerts would usually start screaming even if an interception was successful. The reason is that the ballistic missile spends a portion of its travel outside the atmosphere, and even if successfully intercepted during that time (Arrow-3 does that exoatmospheric intercept magic), several tons of metallic debris would continue their trajectory, reenter the atmosphere and spread over a wide area.
The “12-day war”, June 2025.
Backing up again to the early days of the war…
With the concern of the war escalating, we’ve tried thinking how we could better prepare for whatever contingency might occur.
My wife and I have decided to prepare an “emergency backpack”. Should our home sustain any damage, and we would be forced to leave it, we figured it would be good to have at least some basic items that would make things more manageable in the first day or two: A flashlight, extra charging batteries for our phones, some canned food, bottled water, clothing etc.
Preparing this backpack was logical, and it gave us a sense of control over things that were happening to us (however slim). This was crucial, and it was helpful sometimes to just behold this backpack sitting by the door for more than a year and a half.June 13, 2025 and Beyond
And fast forwarding back to June 2025. More specifically, Friday, June 13th, around 3am.*
Now a family of four (my daughter joined us in late November 2024), we were all jolted awake by sirens outside. Oddly, there were no prior alerts on our phones — something that always preceded sirens in our area. Moments later, all our devices lit up with a new kind of alert, accompanied by high-tone beep sounds from every device around the house. The message read, in rough translation:
EXTREME ALERT,
ATTENTION TO HOMEFRONT INSTRUCTIONS.
DUE TO AN EXPECTED SUBSTANTIAL THREAT, YOU ARE INSTRUCTED TO ADHERE TO HOMEFRONT INSTRUCTIONS BEING DISTRIBUTED AT THIS TIME IN THE MEDIA.
Now, THAT didn’t help calm us down. We felt that something major was happening, and we didn’t even know what the hell it was.
A few minutes later, we saw the local news telling us that a preemptive strike was currently being executed by Israel at…Iran.
Twice before that morning, we’ve experienced ballistic missile attacks from Iran. In both instances, there was some buildup of tension leading up to the actual Iranian strikes, so we were able to prepare both physically, but more importantly, mentally.
This time, tension had been peaking for some days already. It was widely believed that SOMETHING was going to happen in the coming days. And yet, being woken up by that siren, coupled with the successive alerts on our phones, made for a very tough and tense morning.A few things we did in the minutes that followed:
- We decided that when a missile attack came, we would head down to our building’s bomb shelter.
- We refreshed our emergency backpack with food and clothing, also for my daughter (the six-month-old wonder who joined our lives).
- We’ve decided on some pre-planned steps that each of us would carry out to speed up our arrival at the shelter: From things like ensuring all the air-conditioning units are off, to shutting off the gas line for the kitchen stove, to who would carry our daughter and how. This gave us all some sense of control over things.
- We also took our time talking to our son about what’s going on: that there is some danger, but also that we can actively mitigate it drastically by following some simple rules.
In the following hours of what was left of that night, we got the “all clear” notification telling us we don’t need to stay AT a sheltered area just yet, but we should stay close to one (up to 90 seconds away from a shelter). The media outlets highlighted that, unlike what was considered “safe” against the smaller rockets we were facing from Gaza and Lebanon, any alerts henceforth required us to go into an actual shelter or a MAMAD (Apartment hardened room). The warhead in the smaller rockets is largely based on fragmentation, which can usually be avoided by simply lying flat on the ground, even when outdoors.
Iranian missiles carry 600 to 1000kg of explosive, generating a powerful shockwave. This shockwave is said to be deadly for anyone near it and can easily disintegrate any non-reinforced structures.We were also informed that due to this situation, schools and any non-critical workplace (i.e. anything other than food distribution, medical personnel, police, etc.) would be closed until further notice.
The news updates stated that Iran has indeed launched a few hundred drones our way, that they were being tracked, but they were still hours away from us. Should they become a threat, the affected areas would be alerted well in advance.I took the opportunity to go outside and headed for a nearby public shelter a few minutes away from our home. That shelter turned out to be much more inviting than our building’s old “cave”. The public shelter is a more modern facility, better protected, cleaner, with lights and air conditioning and even a WiFi service. I took my time recording a video of how this shelter looks from street level, going downwards. When I arrived home, we showed it to my son, so that he could be better prepared and feel more comfortable once he’s visiting there.
That evening, the first missile attack finally came. It started with a cellular alert instructing us to once again stay close to a shelter. We dressed up in a hurry, took our backpacks, took our daughter, and headed to the public shelter. Already on our way there (about 4 minutes away), the sirens started screaming. As we arrived at the bottom level of the shelter, we were able to hear and feel the dozens of explosions outside. Some from interceptors self-destructing, some from interceptors killing enemy missiles, but also some from ground impacts. I’ve experienced some mortar fire and rockets falling not too far away from me, but the thundering sounds of these missiles came to me as a frightening experience.
The shelter was pretty crammed with neighbours, and some started mentioning rumors, and news flashes about impacts and damage. We quickly hissed those, asking politely but firmly to refrain from calling out such news to avoid stressing the kids even more. Thankfully, this worked most of the time, but when I peeked at the news on my own smartphone, I was shocked to see photos of enormous columns of smoke and dust in places in Tel-Aviv that I could easily recognize as not being 2.5km away from us.
About an hour later, we were given the all-clear, and we climbed back out to the street level. Something I would never forget from that moment is the stench of rocket exhaust fumes and explosive smoke. I suppose some of it came from dozens of Iron-Dome interceptors launching from positions all around and inside of Tel-Aviv. Some of it probably came from the Iranian warheads. The feeling of going with my wife and two kids out of a shelter, into the street and smelling this stench is something that’s hard to describe.
The next 12 days looked quite the same. I was able to work from home, which helped me avoid climbing on the walls out of frustration. But we also stayed together as a family, which turned out to be a very reassuring period.In these 12 days, we were in a constant alert state: We always had clothes and shoes nearby. We always kept “thinking ahead” about contingencies for the coming minutes. We kept our showers short and kept planning who would do what if an alert came just then. We had missile alerts sometimes one, sometimes three times a day, and we always ensured our backpacks were “back in 100% state” as soon as we were back home, so that if yet another alert came, we would already be fully ready. The high pace of those 12 days made us well-trained, and soon we were able to be at the shelter not 4 minutes after the initial warning.
But the constant tension, coupled with the grim news of the situation in areas affected by missile impacts, and not knowing what’s to come, all these took a heavy toll on all of us. By the time the “small 12 days war” came to an end, we were all but drained. Physically and mentally.
From the early days of the war and tenfold since the beginning of the 12-days war we are all extra twitchy about sharp noises. A motorcycle speeding and buzzing in the street. A furniture dragged screeching on the floor in another house in the street. An ambulance – each and any of those make us stop for a moment, which often feels like much more than that, waiting, analyzing, thinking, ensuring and then exhaling in some relief that it is not THAT sound.In the following days, I had a chance to go to two sites where Iranian missiles had landed. Both in Tel-Aviv and Ramat-Gan (on my way to work). The level of destruction seen on TV and in photos is enormous, but it is also nothing like seeing that devastation in person. Seeing what even a couple of missiles can do when impacting a city made me think how lucky we are to have all those fancy air-defense systems. It also made me think of how truly heartbreaking and terrifying it must be for all those around the world experiencing a similar level of violence these days, but without those very same measures of protection.
Some Final Words… At Last
This has become quite a wall of text. I really tried to organize and shorten it, but I just knew I wasn’t very successful with that. The events starting and following Oct-7 are all one big mess in my head, with clusters of more dense, incomprehensible mess from some specific days. I sure hope I was able to at the very least, convey some of the feelings and experiences. I also wish I could forget some of those, and at the same time, forever remember them. Most of all, I hope no civilians in the world would have to go through the experiences of war and armed conflict. We should all realize we have much better things on which to spend our time, expenses and effort.
To all the fine friends here who constantly care, check in, show interest, and offer their support, I cannot begin to describe how helpful your kind words are and the power they have. A “Thank you!” feels somewhat inadequate, but it is here nonetheless.
Part of an “Iron dome” interceptor found after a missile attack 500m from Assaf’s home.
“The public shelter where we spent a good deal of our time during the 12-day period.”
“The notorious “Extreme alert” we got on Jun-13 03:08 am, right after the sirens started. This message was delivered by a cell-broadcast system to each and every cellular device in israel and was accompanied by a rather terrifying high-tone..”
“Homefront alert (via an app) to stay close to a shelter until further notice due to an expected threat. This one is the one we got on Jun-13th, 3:40am, shortly after the sirens outside first told us something very extraordinary was happening.”
“An early-warning message about an expected missile alert. This type of message was delivered as soon as a missile launch was detected from either iran or yemen, and the missile was determined to be on its way to Israel. At this early a stage, the precise impact area is not yet determined, and the actual sirens are not yet screaming. This period is used by the air-defense system to try and shoot it down early on.”
“When the threat becomes real, the sirens outside start screaming, and we get this message that a missile threat is real, and we have “X” seconds to seek shelter (90 seconds for us in Tel-Aviv). The sirens outside would keep on screaming in accordance with that alert time, so after 90 seconds, they went quiet. If you’re still outside and haven’t made it to a shelter, then you need to hit the dirt and protect your head because if any missile is landing, it would do so right about now. Intercept fragments and additional missiles might also impact a few minutes later on so one must remain on the ground until the all-clear is given.”
“That’s one more type of cell-alerts that we used to get. Those were buzzing very loudly as soon as missile launches were detected from iran, alerting us to
Relocate closer to a proper shelter as actual sirens are to be expected within a few minutes. During the 12-day war, it is this type of alert that usually kicked us out of bed and heading for the public shelter. Rough translation:
EXTREME ALERT
IN THE COMING MINUTES ALERTS ARE EXPECTED IN YOUR AREA.
YOU ARE INSTRUCTED TO IMPROVE YOUR POSITION FOR AN OPTIMAL SHELTERING AREA IN YOUR VICINITY.
IN CASE OF AN ALERT, YOU ARE TO ENTER THE SHELTERED AREA AND STAY THERE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.”
FlyAndWire 