Sheltering in Jerusalem and Looking at the Iran War

"In Jerusalem, after more than a week of the war that the United States and Israel launched on Iran, that state of mind seems inescapable. In the German Colony neighborhood, where my family lives, the constant, low growl of fighter jets has become a kind of white noise. Schools are closed, as are restaurants that don't have shelters, but banks and shopping centers are open at unpredictable hours."

"About half of the roughly three hundred missiles fired at Israel by March 10th reportedly carried cluster bombs. In the shelter, neighbors banter or trade dark punch lines. After ten or fifteen minutes, we check our phones for an all-clear or reports of where warheads may have gotten through."

"Later, we listen to security pundits and military experts telling us which Iranian leaders or installations have been 'eliminated.' But they offer no answers for the most important questions, and seem to think them academic to people running to shelters: What can be achieved by this war? How will we end it-and not soon have to refight it?"

An Israeli resident describes the immediate experience of living under missile and drone attacks during the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. Daily life involves constant alerts, shelter runs, and unpredictable closures of schools and businesses. While military experts discuss eliminated targets, fundamental questions remain unanswered: what strategic objectives justify the conflict, how will it conclude, and can it be prevented from recurring. The author expresses a sense of being manipulated while enduring the psychological and physical toll of ongoing military escalation without clear resolution or purpose.

Read at The New Yorker