In a Tel Aviv flat that has become a place of constant waiting, Edinburgh-born Danielle Bett describes the ninth day of a war between Israel, the United States and Iran, in which the sirens have not yet thinned. Her account reminds us that wars rarely arrive as the clean arcs of strategy and speeches; they arrive as interrupted sleep, shelter stairwells climbed with children, and windows shattered by shrapnel. Bett, who supports Iranians seeking to be rid of their own government, nonetheless doubts that the plan of Trump and Netanyahu will bring lasting peace, and her scepticism speaks to a lo
Edinburgh-Born Israeli in Tel Aviv Describes 'Exhausting' Nightly Iranian Missile Alerts Nine Days Into War
Residents have been forced to leave homes after shrapnel damage, and families are sleeping disrupted by repeated night-time sirens and shelter runs.
"It's not like a movie."
Mark
Why does one woman's account of sirens matter nine days into a war?
Mimi
Because it shows what the headline goals look like on the ground. Forces have vowed to destroy Iran's missile capability, yet Danielle Bett was woken three times in one night.
Luke
Worth saying that's one resident's account. Six sirens in a day is her experience in Tel Aviv, not a national figure.
Mark
She compares it to last year's 12-day war. What's the difference?
Mimi
She says far more missiles across the week and at all hours. The first two days were worst, but it hasn't dropped to a couple a day.
Luke
That comparison is her impression. She gives no counts, so we can't verify it.
Mark
She says there hasn't been massive destruction. Why stress that?
Mimi
She says people expect all or nothing. Instead, shrapnel breaks windows and families can't stay in their homes.
Luke
She doesn't say how many people have been displaced. That number isn't in the reporting.
Mark
And her view of the regime change plan?
Mimi
She backs Iranians who want the regime gone, but asks what the plan is and says she doesn't trust her government to deliver lasting peace.
Luke
That's her opinion, and the piece doesn't tell us what the plan actually involves.
Il Polso
- Up to six air raid sirens a day are dragging residents out of bed and into shelters as the ninth day of war unfolds.
- Iranian missiles hit harder and faster than the Hezbollah and Hamas rockets people had learned to live with, and their wailing dial-up alerts give only minutes to reach cover.
- Shrapnel from nearby impacts is blowing out windows and forcing families from their homes, especially those without shelters or who must carry children up and down stairs.
- Forces from Israel and the US have vowed to destroy Iran's missile capability, yet the attacks continue, and the test is whether the siren count finally falls.
- Public faith in the regime-change plan is fragile, with residents questioning whether any government can deliver lasting security.
In a Tel Aviv flat that has become a place of constant waiting, Edinburgh-born Danielle Bett describes the ninth day of a war between Israel, the United States and Iran, in which the sirens have not yet thinned. Her account reminds us that wars rarely arrive as the clean arcs of strategy and speeches; they arrive as interrupted sleep, shelter stairwells climbed with children, and windows shattered by shrapnel. Bett, who supports Iranians seeking to be rid of their own government, nonetheless doubts that the plan of Trump and Netanyahu will bring lasting peace, and her scepticism speaks to a longer history of outside powers promising to remake the Middle East.
Three sirens pulled Danielle Bett from her bed on Friday night, and by Saturday afternoon three more had sounded. Bett, 36, Edinburgh-born and living in Tel Aviv, was describing the ninth day of a war that shows no sign of easing. The attacks have not tapered as she had hoped. Compared with last year's twelve-day conflict with Iran, she says, far more missiles are falling across the whole week, at all hours.
She is clear that Iranian missiles are a different kind of danger from the rockets of Hezbollah or Hamas. They can destroy an entire street, so a run to shelter has to be immediate. Their alerts are harsher too: a piercing wail on the phone a few minutes before impact, which sounds to her like an old dial-up connection and makes her jump every time.
The damage has not been enormous, but it has been enough to uproot people. Shrapnel blows in windows and makes homes unlivable, and families without a shelter, or renting flats with many stairs, struggle most, especially with small children. Once, out with her mother when a siren sounded, they had no shelter at all and ran under a building. She watched a missile being intercepted overhead and called the moment surreal. Sleep is hard when every night is spent waiting, and she insists this is plainly a state of war.
Bett backs Iranians who want to overthrow what she calls a horrific regime in Tehran, and wants them to choose their own government. But she doubts the plan of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, and does not believe it will bring lasting peace or security. She does not trust her own government to deliver that, and points out that the United States has never succeeded at regime change in the Middle East.
She also rejects the praise often heaped on Israelis for their resilience. Much of it, she says, is simply having no choice, a condition that Israelis, Palestinians and Iranians all share. It should not be romanticised. For now, the number that matters most to her is the siren count, and it has not yet come down.
Three times on Friday night, sirens pulled Danielle Bett out of bed in Tel Aviv and sent her to the nearest bomb shelter. By mid-afternoon Saturday, when she spoke to the Sunday Mail, three more had sounded. Bett, a 36-year-old Edinburgh-born Israeli, was describing the ninth day of a war that shows no sign of easing.
Israeli and US forces have vowed to destroy the Iranian regime's ability to launch missiles. Yet waves of attacks are still arriving nine days after the war began. Bett said the first two days were the worst, but the rate has not fallen to a couple of sirens a day. Compared with last year's 12-day war between Israel and Iran, she said, this feels like far more missiles over the whole week, and at all hours.
She stressed that Iranian missiles are a different category of threat from the rockets fired by Hezbollah or Hamas. In her words, they can take out a whole street, which means getting out of bed and into shelter very quickly. The alerts differ too. For Hezbollah rockets from Lebanon there is only the air raid siren, followed by 90 seconds to find cover. For Iranian missiles, phones deliver a wailing alert a few minutes ahead of time, which she said sounds like an old internet dial-up connection. It is very loud, she said, the most unpleasant of the alarms, and it makes her jump and feel anxious.
The damage, she said, has not been massive, but many people have still had to leave their homes. She pushed back on the idea that wars deliver all or nothing, saying it is not like a movie. Shrapnel from a bomb landing near a street can blow in windows and make a family's home unlivable. Families without a shelter, or those renting other apartments, face particular difficulty, because running up and down stairs to a shelter or going outside is hard with children.
One day she was out in the city with her mother when a siren went off and there was no shelter to stop at. They ran for cover under a building. Bett said she saw a missile being intercepted in the sky, and called it surreal. The sound of explosions is what she notices most: sometimes like a distant firework, and when closer, even indoors, a physical tremor. Sleep is hard, she said, when you are on edge and waiting. People are not just going about their daily lives; it is, in her words, definitely a state of war.
Bett said she supports Iranians who want to overthrow what she called a horrific, oppressive regime in Tehran, and who want a government led by Iranians rather than by a foreign government. But she questions the plan put forward by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. She asked whether she believes they can bring long-term peace and security to the region, and answered no. She does not trust her own government to deliver that, she said, and will not simply trust without asking questions. She also noted that the US has no history of succeeding at regime change in the Middle East.
She also took issue with how Israelis are often described as resilient and praised for it. Much of that resilience, she said, is a lack of choice in coping with situations forced on Israelis, Palestinians and Iranians alike. The reality, she argued, should not be glorified or romanticised.
What to watch is whether the stated aim of destroying Iran's missile-launching capability shows up in the siren count, which Bett says has not yet dropped.
Citazioni salienti
I don't trust my government when it comes to delivering this. I'm not just going to trust and not ask questions.— Danielle Bett, to the Sunday Mail
It's definitely a state of war.— Danielle Bett
Vuoi la storia completa?
Leggi l'originale su Daily Record ↗
War & Conflict