Jerusalem under attack, an Italian family under fire
MAR 2, 2025
Cell phone alarms in Hebrew urging people to flee to bomb shelters, then in English, Arabic, and Russian, announcing dozens of incoming missiles from Iran. A constant barrage of noise, starting early in the morning, when everyone in Israel was sleepily preparing for a relaxing Shabbat. Then the deafening sirens, like piercing cries of pain, different from those of ambulances, reminiscent of those of the bombings of European cities during World War II, perfect for scaring children, like my six-year-old daughter, who asks, confused and frightened, what’s happening. Then the sudden explosions overhead, more powerful than thunderclaps in the sky, as air defense strikes the hissing instruments of death in flight, shaking every window in the house.
This is the morning greeting in Jerusalem today, for a day planned to take the children to the nearby children’s cinema, where they have to be explained why the program is canceled, without managing to distract them from the restless sadness they see on their parents’ faces. I turn up the volume of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” on YouTube to the max to distract from the tense atmosphere, but the wail of the sirens is louder.
Meanwhile, we nervously search the internet and WhatsApp to try to understand what’s happening, but the Hebrew channels respect the Shabbat rest. Then finally, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth publishes a first article in Hebrew and English, then Haaretz, then a few Telegram channels. Israel is under attack, in response to Operation Lion’s Roar by the Israeli armed forces in conjunction with the US. How many children, women, and elderly people will die among the Jewish and Arab civilians of this state this time, after the dozens of victims during the previous Twelve-Day War last June? Iranian missiles then destroyed entire buildings and neighborhoods, sowing panic, and even today we read news and see images of bombings in Tel Aviv, Beer Sheva, Ashdod, and in the north, in the Galilee.
How many children, women, and elderly people will die among the Jewish and Arab civilians of this state this time, after the dozens of victims during the previous Twelve-Day War last June?
News of the victims and the damage these bombings are causing are under strict military censorship, and we read repeated calls not to share any news, photos, or videos of the damage inflicted on the cities to avoid aiding the enemy. This means that, as with the previous 12-Day War against Iran, we will only know the exact number of dead and wounded in Israel after a few days.
Friends, family, and acquaintances in Italy urge us to flee, unaware that even if we wanted to leave, the airport is closed and there are no flights. A Palestinian doctor friend calls me to put me through to a group of terrified priests in the Old City of Jerusalem who are desperately asking which Italian diplomatic authority they should contact to escape this unexpected war trap. The only answer we can give in these dramatic moments is that the chances of an Iranian missile falling on Jerusalem, particularly on the tiny Old City, packed with holy sites, are close to zero, due to the risk of accidentally hitting the Temple Mount, the Noble Sanctuary, which contains some of the religious sites most cherished by Muslims, the Dome of the Rock, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Small consolation, given the disaster surrounding us.
Now the deafening sound of the siren surprisingly reaches us first on our cell phones and then in the city, as if to keep us constantly alert, preventing us from relaxing or distracting ourselves even for a moment.
In this chilling and surreal atmosphere, every news story is devoured, while the roar of warplanes in flight accompanies us relentlessly, and the latest news rekindles a glimmer of hope for a de-escalation and a resumption of direct US-Iran negotiations.
