Of missiles and miracles: Residents of bombed cities count their blessings after weekend salvos

With over a dozen impact sites across major central cities, many residents describe shock and an eroding sense of safety, while others see moments of fortune amid destruction

What should have normally been a quiet spring weekend in Israel was shattered Saturday as Iranian missiles with cluster bomb warheads rained down on densely packed cities, striking homes, cars, and apartment blocks in the heart of the country.

More than a dozen impact sites were reported across central Israel after Iran launched several missile salvos, scattering destruction across Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva and Rosh Ha’ayin.

With most people in shelters, there were no fatalities, and only six people were lightly injured. In many cases, residents said, the outcome could have been far worse.

In a residential neighborhood of Ramat Gan, just down the street from a preschool and community garden, one cluster munition tore through an apartment building — punching directly into a bedroom and leaving it exposed to the open air.

With no bomb shelter on the premises, a resident said it was a fortunate coincidence that the building was empty at the time.

By Sunday morning, the entrance was sealed off by the Home Front Command, as the structure was deemed unsafe to enter. Residents lingered outside, trying to understand how, or if, they would be able to retrieve what remained of their belongings.

One resident, who had spent the weekend in Jerusalem with family, said she only learned that her house had been destroyed when relatives living nearby called to tell her the news. By then, there was nothing to do but return to a home she barely recognized.

Some three hours after that attack, another cluster munition hit a residential building just two blocks away. There, too, no one was injured.

Israeli flags were later draped over the damaged facade, a demonstration of quiet resilience by residents. On Sunday, workers sifted through rubble, and passing cars slowed to a crawl as drivers tried to take in the scene. On the sidewalk, a moving crew loaded salvaged items into a truck.

Ramat Gan resident Moni, who grew up in the neighborhood but now lives elsewhere in the city, came to check on friends. He said his family home had been damaged during the Gulf War in 1990. Standing amid the wreckage on Sunday, he struggled to process the familiarity of it all.

“I am quite overwhelmed,” he said.

“Until now, I wasn’t worried at all about being in urban areas — even while driving. I practiced with myself what I needed to do,” he said, referring to either finding the nearest bomb shelter or lying down by the roadside when sirens sound — a routine millions of Israelis have had to grapple with since the war with Iran began more than a month ago.

He said open highways always felt more dangerous, “a game of Russian roulette,” because there are often no nearby shelters, leaving drivers exposed.

But now, after repeated impacts in central cities, Moni said his sense of relative safety was quickly eroding.

Just a 10-minute drive away, in Bnei Brak, another cluster munition struck a residential building across the street from a synagogue in the heart of the ultra-Orthodox majority city. An entire floor was completely destroyed, while others sustained more limited damage.

A railing was torn loose and hurled into a neighboring building, shattering a window. According to medics, a 45-year-old man was lightly injured by the broken glass.

In the wake of the destruction, children on kick scooters weaved through the rubble-strewn street, slowing down to take pictures of the damage.

Yet the dominant emotion among passersby at this scene was not fear, but awe.

“Anyone who doesn’t believe in God must come here,” said one local woman, an immigrant from France. Despite the destruction, she called it a “miracle” that no one had been seriously wounded or killed.

Around her, neighbors repeated the same phrase: “Nissim karu poh” — miracles happened here.