Life Persists Underground in Israel Amidst Ongoing Conflict
When air raid sirens and urgent cellphone alerts signal incoming missiles from Iran, residents across Israel swiftly descend into shelters, transforming parking garages, metro stations, and basements into temporary, vibrant communities. These images capture the surreal and resilient nature of daily life when interruptions can occur at any moment, day or night. After enduring constant waves of conflict, Israelis have developed remarkable ways to adapt quickly, finding moments of relief and normalcy even as tensions escalate.
Surreal Moments in Cramped Spaces
Inside one shelter, a bride-to-be continues her wedding photo shoot with family, her voluminous dress filling much of the dark, confined area. During the Jewish holiday of Purim, revelers in elaborate costumes—including a Shrek character and a horror-film nurse adorned with fake blood—crowd into an underground station, creating an almost dreamlike tableau against the stark gray walls. For many Israelis, seeking refuge in shelters is a familiar routine shaped by past wars, unlike other nations in the region such as Iran and Lebanon, where residents also scramble for safety from strikes.
While the occupied West Bank is not directly targeted, missiles often pass overhead, and the territory lacks adequate shelter access, tragically illustrated by the recent deaths of four Palestinian women. When warnings blare, shelters swell with people for durations ranging from 15 minutes to half an hour, depending on the alert's length. Some individuals have relocated underground permanently due to insufficient shelter access in poorer neighborhoods or mobility challenges.
Permanent Underground Communities
Beneath Tel Aviv's dilapidated bus station, dozens of families have set up full-time residence in tents. Many are Filipino and Eritrean migrants from the surrounding area, one of Tel Aviv's most decrepit zones, which lacks sufficient shelters. They return home briefly each day to cook meals, bringing food back to share with others, establishing an impromptu soup kitchen equipped with ice coolers, microwaves, and Tupperware containers.
Healthcare and Daily Activities Adapt
Israel's hospitals promptly activated their underground emergency protocols at the onset of the war with Iran. At Sheba Medical Center, a staff member blows bubbles to entertain a young patient in a makeshift ward set up on a parking level. In the cavernous parking lot under Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Center mall, thousands gather daily within echoing concrete walls and pillars, where mallgoers typically search for their cars.
Women in a yoga class assume downward dog poses on mats laid across parking spots, while a nearby man strums a guitar. Miri Kaftor, who usually teaches in a quiet studio nearby, has adapted to conducting classes under fluorescent lights with children screaming and riding scooters in the background. Later that evening, a stand-up comedian hosts a singles event where a hopeful woman dressed as a bride laughs while riding on the back of a man in a turtle costume.
Spiritual and Recreational Corners
One corner transforms into an impromptu prayer hall, with a circle of men in shawls bowing their heads in the shadows. In another section, children watch television at a designated play zone. The photos offer a glimpse into daily life transplanted into sometimes claustrophobic spaces, extending even to pets. A dog rests across the lap of a sleeping man, while another waits patiently in the darkness as people sit worried, bored, or impatient under the shelter's neon lights and the glow of mobile phones.
This documentary photo story, curated by AP photo editors, underscores the resilience and adaptability of Israelis amidst ongoing conflict, highlighting how life, in all its surreal and real facets, continues underground.
