In the barrage around 4 AM in the morning of June 16, the interceptor explosions in the sky above my bomb shelter sounded much closer than the Tel Aviv ones had in previous days. Turns out that’s because the target was Petach Tikvah – a large city in Central Israel. A residential building was struck.
It’s the kind of hit where being in a bomb shelter may not have helped at all.
Excerpt from the Jerusalem Post report:
Zaki Heller, MDA spokesman, told Udi Segal and Anat Davidov on 103FM radio that it is possible that being in a safe room would not have prevented the victim’s deaths, although would being in a protected space significantly improves the chance of survival.
“When a missile hits a structure directly, it is possible that even the protected room here will not withstand such a missile,” he shared. “We are going apartment by apartment and making sure that there are no casualties, the main event – two buildings with 20 floors, the scans in each of the apartments. We treated 43 casualties.”
After the second consecutive night of missile barrages from Iran:
10 confirmed dead including baby;
Hundreds injured;
7 missing;
There are zero Israeli military fatalities in Bat Yam, Rishon LeZion, Rehovot, or the Arab city Tamra.
These are 100% civilian cities.
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Israeli security and rescue forces at the scene of an apartment building destroyed by an Iranian ballistic missile impact, in Bat Yam, June 15, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Bat Yam Mayor Tzvika Brot said in a statement that “61 buildings were damaged in one way or another — six of them will need to be completely demolished.”
In Rehovot, at least 42 people were wounded, including two seriously and 13 moderately, MDA reported. One man was alive for hours under the rubble at the site of the strike, until rescuers managed to extract him.
Argentina’s PM Milei to move its embassy to Jerusalem:
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-857242
US Embassy will boycott the Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade this year:
Much to their dismay, Trump survived both assassination attempts to become the elected President, and now he directed the US Embassy in Israel to officially boycott the Tel Aviv LGBTQ Parade.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-embassy-to-boycott-tel-aviv-pride-parade-in-trump-era-reversal/
US Envoy: No room for Palestinian state in Samaria and Judea – put it somewhere else:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-envoy-no-room-for-palestinian-state-in-west-bank-under-current-conditions/
IDF publishes documents it says proves that Hamas has had a policy of confiscating all the incoming aid:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-publishes-documents-it-says-prove-hamas-has-been-confiscating-aid-as-a-matter-of-policy/
Translation: Operation “A People Rises Like a Lioness.”
Do not trust the online translations saying “Operation With a Dog” – those translators do not know the difference between modern and Biblical Hebrew.
Numbers 23:22-24:
God brings them out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox. 23 “For [there is] no sorcery against Jacob, Nor any divination against Israel. It now must be said of Jacob And of Israel, ‘Oh, what God has done!’ 24 Look, a people rises like a lioness, And lifts itself up like a lion; It shall not lie down until it devours the prey, And drinks the blood of the slain.” [Num 23:22-24 NKJV]
Apparently the battle is on, and so here in Samaria we can expect a lot more from Yemen, Iran, and who knows who else very soon. About 40 minutes after my two cats and I emerged from our bomb shelter, these alerts came through, signaling a general state of lockdown and alert for now – which could be days or weeks, depending.
Missiles, drones, whatever, this is gearing up to be a dangerous battle between Iran and Israel – with many potential casualties. The USA does not want to get involved offensively – so – will assist with Israel’s defense. Domestically the Israeli police are gearing up to defend against the enemy within.
The full conversation, including: “At the start of my work as a writer for The Guardian, I thought I was ‘one of them,’ but later I realized that I wasn’t:”
Israel government probably does not want to take chances that Iran will fake out the USA with insincere diplomacy.
Iran plans the counterattack against Israel.
Israel may have to consider how much time Iran has left to rebuild their air defenses which Israel destroyed previously after the big Iranian missile attack.
Excerpt:
Screenshot from Times of Israel taken on 12 Jun 2025.