JERUSALEM — For some Israelis, it was a sleepless night, waiting for an attack by Iran and then fretting about what might follow. For others, the drones and missiles slipped past without notice — the interceptions by Israel and allied militaries giving families a protective shield as they slept.
In Jerusalem, a city rarely troubled by aerial attacks, the sounds of the interceptions rolled through like thunder. Air raid sirens wailed; people gathered on balconies, or pressed their faces to the windows, as fireballs lit up the sky.
Streets were quiet Sunday morning. Shopkeepers said that some people had been in to buy stockpiles of food and water. “It was terrifying. Terrifying,” said Mari James, 27, as she left a store with bulging carrier bags. “I think I’m doing this to soothe myself,” she said. “I don’t know what else to do.”
Israeli leaders had spent days foreshadowing the likelihood of an Iranian attack, following Israel’s April 1 targeting of two Iranian generals in the Syrian capital, Damascus. On Thursday, the military jammed GPS signals over parts of Tel Aviv without warning, causing havoc on the roads as Google Maps and Waze suddenly placed drivers in Cairo or Beirut.
By Friday, rumors of an imminent strike swirled around an anxious nation.
In the Silwan district of East Jerusalem, Abu Karam, 45, said it felt like the whole neighborhood stepped outside to watch the attacks early Sunday. “Everybody was up,” he said.
“You cannot watch the sky appear on fire and not be afraid,” he added. “What do you tell your children? They can’t understand what is happening.”
Israel’s Home Front Command, a branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responsible for emergency preparedness, said Sunday that Israelis no longer needed to stay near protected rooms or shelters. But it left in place restrictions on large gatherings and a ban on educational activities such as school trips.
Almost all of the drones and ballistic and cruise missiles sent by Iran were intercepted, said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesman.
