Israeli families struggle with destroyed homes after Iranian missile attacks

The Iranian missile attacks in the past 12 days caused massive damage to numerous mainly residential buildings across the Jewish state. Israeli families who narrowly survived the Iranian missile attacks, now face the harsh reality of being homeless after their homes were destroyed. Dozens of Israelis have become displaced as a result of the Iranian missile attacks. They currently hope that they will receive support and financial compensation from the State of Israel. 

Liza Yazdi, a 67-year-old woman resident in the Israeli city Rishon LeZion close to Tel Aviv, painfully watches as a bulldozer levels the remains of the building where she lived for the past 34 years. 

“This is a painful and difficult moment,” she told Ynet News. “The tractor is destroying 34 years of memories. But I’m grateful to be alive. We’ll build a new home."

Yazdi who survived the impact from the Iranian missile strike, credits her late husband who enforced the walls of their former home 

“He built it well,” she said with tears. “The walls didn’t want to fall.”

Not far from Yazdi’s leveled home, stood the 44-year-old Sivan Malkiel watching the demolition of her parents’ home that was also destroyed by an Iranian missile. Malkiel explained that her father Zion built the home 37 years ago “when the area was still all sand.”

“It was his life’s project. This is the house of my childhood. We played here, we grew up here. I know everyone on this street, in this neighborhood,” she said. 

Her homeless parents were forced to relocate to a hotel. Meanwhile, Malkiel is currently facing the challenges of renovations, rent, buying new furniture, dealing with bureaucracy and helping her parents to start over again. 

“It’s very difficult,” she assessed. “Rental prices are through the roof."

Yedidya Shabtai, his wife, daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren were all miraculously rescued from the rubble of their former home. 

“Everything was there – all the memories,” Shabtai recalled. The family initially feared that their dog, Tzvika, died in the missile attack. However, the dog was discovered alive a few days later under the ruins of the collapsed building.

Some 150 private homes in Israel sustained various degrees of damage in the Iranian missile attacks according to an engineering survey. Furthermore, some 30-40 homes reportedly suffered major damage and are in need of comprehensive repairs. 

Many Israelis are accustomed to coping with challenges during times of conflict. Despite the hardships and uncertainty, some express cautious optimism about the future.

“We survived,” one resident stated. “Now we just need the state to truly stand by us – no bureaucracy, no delays. Let us rebuild.”

Israel severely degraded Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities in the recent 12-day-war. By contrast, the Iranian regime mainly terrorized Israeli civilians with multiple barrages fired at Israeli population centers. 

One Iranian missile caused severe damage to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva, the largest hospital in southern Israel. 

Miraculously, no patients died as the impacted ward has been evacuated 24 hours earlier. 

The Israeli President Isaac Herzog decried “the destruction and devastation caused by an Iranian missile fired indiscriminately” at the Israeli hospital. 

“This is a war crime!” he stated.