Living from siren to siren under Tel Aviv

A few days into the war spending overnights in shelters had become the norm. But the larger public shelters in and around Tel Aviv had fallen into disrepair and after being used by an unknown number people as a makeshift public restroom substitute, it’s just not appealing to sleep overnight in them. (For example, the first shelter I found safety in also was sheltering a local scorpion population.) But with so many buildings not having any shelter, people began to think creatively. Barely used, brand new Subway stations become huge communal shelters.

And Brothers and Sisters of Israel (best known for the modern protest movements in Israel) started supplying tents to underground parking facilities. I found the communities that formed in these underground dwellings to be fascinating. The falling Iranian rockets had effectively forced thousands to co-mingle in these places for long periods of time, no matter their backgrounds. A melting pot of culture and people under the threat of war.