Some of the hardest moments Geula Israel, the head of Bat Yam’s municipal welfare services, experienced in the wake of the Iranian strike on her city were watching families search for their missing loved ones.
Israel, who, in an emergency, heads the municipality’s population division, was on the ground at the scene of the Sunday morning strike that killed nine people.
After becoming aware of the impact in the city, Israel’s department began its role, working to find injured people, evacuate families from damaged homes, help find temporary housing, provide emotional support, and connect residents to other service providers.
“One of the hardest things about that day was meeting with the families who were looking for loved ones who went missing since the moment of impact,” Israel recalled.
They were wandering around, worried and blurry-eyed, she said.
“Some of them were shaking. They were holding their phones or a picture. Sometimes, [they had] only a first name,” Israel detailed.
These people would come up to emergency workers asking about their missing loved ones repeatedly, Israel said.
“They repeated the same sentences again and again [hoping that] maybe this time there would be a different answer,” she said.
“For some of them,” Israel continued, “we already knew the truth – that there was probably difficult news that had not yet been given to them.”
It was hard, feeling this pain that did not belong to her, but still got to her, Israel described.
“I stood there watching them, and all I wanted was that their loved ones would be found safe, even when I knew that would not happen,” she said.
Israel said that many of the residents impacted by the Iranian strike are from populations that will have a hard time recovering from this type of event.
A lot of those people who were impacted are elderly, living with disabilities, or dealing with challenging socioeconomic circumstances, she explained.
“Many of them were struggling to get by even before [the strike], and this event disrupted their lives entirely. For them, going back home is not a technical matter; this is almost impossible to do [due to] the damage to the apartments, accessibility problems, lack of family support, and general feelings of helplessness,” Israel said.
Her team is working hard to build a support system for these residents, Israel said. Until they can do this, the municipality is working to keep them in hotels “so that at least they will have a safe place to stay, a supportive environment, and the help of our team,” she added.
The primary thing that residents impacted by the strike are dealing with now is the damage to their homes and property, Israel continued.
“People found themselves out of their homes in a moment – some of them with only the clothes on their backs, without knowing if they will be able to go back to their homes, what the state of their furniture is, and what [compensation] they deserve,” Israel said.
There is a great deal of confusion, along with emotional difficulty, she added, saying that her team was working to help represent residents in dealings with government bodies for compensation.
Despite the stress, the meaning can still be found
Israel also commented on what it has been like for her, filling this position while she is also a resident of the area.
Seeing the strike on an area she knows so well was a tough moment for Israel. “Of course, it created great stress and anxiety, but that was also the moment I felt how meaningful what we do is,” she said.
“I knew my job was essential, and I needed to get focused really quickly. Out of all the pain and pressure, I felt a deep sense of pride that comes with embarking on such a meaningful mission.”
“Taking care of people [when] the operation is ongoing, when I know I am part of the situation, is one of the most powerful and complex things I have ever experienced,” she said.
“On the one hand, my responsibility was clear: To care for people, to listen, to identify needs, and to provide answers – even in times of confusion, fear, and uncertainty,” Israel said.
“On the other hand, I am also a citizen, a woman, and a mother to a soldier who was, at that very moment, fighting in Gaza; I, too, feel the same fear, the same concern for my family and those around me,” she said.
Israel is proud of her team, which she said has done an incredible job.
“They are people with heart,” she noted, adding that even “among the destruction and tears, they managed to create a sense of security, even if small, among the chaos.”