ANDREW LIMBONG, HOST:
The U.S. bombed three nuclear sites in Iran overnight. Israel said it was a joint operation with the U.S. and Israeli militaries, but the U.S. did the bombing. Iran retaliated by firing missiles at Tel Aviv this morning, setting off sirens.
(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSIONS)
LIMBONG: Those were the sounds recorded by NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi from outside her home in Tel Aviv. Israeli medics say there were no fatalities and 23 people were injured across the country, including in a neighborhood in northern Tel Aviv, where Hadeel brings this report.
HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: In the affluent north Tel Aviv neighborhood of Ramat Aviv, Erez Tsvi observes the buzz of rescue workers and soldiers near the site of this morning's Iranian strike. The windows from his apartment building have been blown out. Metal rods poke out of the walls. Tsvi pulls out his phone to show pictures from his damaged home.
EREZ TSVI: This is from the kitchen. See? There is nothing left.
AL-SHALCHI: Forty-seven-year-old Tsvi says he's grateful that his family is safe.
TSVI: This is only things, OK? You know, furniture - this is something that we can buy and build. We are fine.
AL-SHALCHI: Tsvi says his damaged home is a small price to pay for Israel's security against Iran.
TSVI: Because we have a huge threat from there, and we believe it will be over soon, and Israel will win, as always.
AL-SHALCHI: Kochava Lishtman was in her shelter, known in Hebrew as a mamad, when the Iranian missile struck near her home.
KOCHAVA LISHTMAN: And there was a very big - I - we didn't hear it before like that, the boom inside the mamad, very strong.
AL-SHALCHI: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he'll fight Iran for as long as it takes to dismantle its nuclear capabilities. Lishtman says she doesn't trust him.
LISHTMAN: Netanyahu put us in a very big mess.
AL-SHALCHI: She says she wants compromise and dialogue, not war.
LISHTMAN: To sit and talk and see what we can do, not to escalate that and not to kill people and there and here and everywhere.
AL-SHALCHI: The scene in Ramat Aviv is similar to many around Israel that were struck by Iranian missiles this past week, residents observing buildings wrecked in a way Israelis have never seen before. They take photos, comfort each other, wonder where this war will take them. At a damaged retirement home nearby, a woman makes an announcement.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: Residents will be taken to a hotel in Jerusalem for their safety. An old woman using a cane is being helped by caregivers. A man carries family portraits and a suitcase on his way out.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: Close to the home, a group of Tel Aviv municipality youth volunteers have set up tables. They hand out water bottles and try to find those who've lost homes someplace to stay. Itiel Samet is in charge.
ITIEL SAMET: (Speaking Hebrew).
AL-SHALCHI: "We're here to give them a hug so they know they're not alone," Samet says. He says he's glad that the U.S. is supporting Israel in its war with Iran.
SAMET: (Speaking Hebrew).
AL-SHALCHI: "It gives a sense of security and partnership, knowing that we're working together. It's very uplifting," Samet says. Mira Goshen is in loud purple outfit, pink lipstick and a streak of blue in her white hair. A green parrot clings to her chest. His name is Chica. Eighty-year-old Goshen lives on the 11th floor of the damaged retirement home. Her apartment was destroyed.
MIRA GOSHEN: No pictures, no door, all the roof fell down in the kitchen and the bathroom.
AL-SHALCHI: And Chica went missing.
GOSHEN: And somebody found him, and the cage is completely ruined, and they start asking, somebody lost a bird?
AL-SHALCHI: She says, Chica was shivering with fear when she found him. Goshen says that in one way, the war with Iran puts Israelis through a tough time. But like many here, she hopes this major strike can help clear the impetus to resolve the older conflict in Gaza.
GOSHEN: In the other way, it's good. Maybe all our khatofeen (ph) will come out now. Yeah, hostages. I forgot the word.
AL-SHALCHI: Goshen says her home may be what she needed to sacrifice. Hadeel Al-Shalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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