Israel appears to have gone back to the state of uncertainty that followed October 7, 2023, 20 months ago. The streets are empty, the faces anxious, the stores, schools, and businesses shuttered. Since the start of a new war with Iran on June 13, the country has ground to a halt once again. Waves of drones and ballistic missiles launched from Iran threaten the entire territory.

The attacks were first signaled by piercing alerts on mobile phones. Then came the wailing of sirens. Finally, the explosions of intercepted projectiles echoed across the sky. During the day, they would leave white trails overhead; at night, they burst like orange flashes. The sound of the detonations spread, shaking doors and windows. Then, silence would return, as the entire country tried to assess the damage. Most of the attacks were stopped, but some penetrated the air defenses and proved devastating. Twenty-four people were killed over three days, and nearly 500 were wounded.

Noam Zion Malkiel emerged from a pile of rubble that, the day before, had been his grandparents' home, in a neighborhood of the city of Rishon LeZion, located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Four houses were destroyed by the impact of a ballistic missile. Staggering and trembling, he held a tapestry depicting carefree young people in a fanciful Renaissance-style setting. "This piece?" said Noam, a slight, 23-year-old musician, with small glasses and curly hair, adding: "I don't know where it's from. I've always seen it at my grandparents' place. It's one of the only things that survived the blast. Forty years have just collapsed." His grandparents, both over 70, were among the first to settle in Rishon LeZion, around 40 years ago. The city is one of the largest in Israel, with nearly 300,000 residents.

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