It’s been a week since I started following the news more closely again. Tensions in the Middle East are exploding.

This report first appeared on www.fokus-jerusalem.tv.

The regime in Tehran is openly threatening Israel. The growing tension is palpable in the Western media, but here in Israel it is clear: we are on the brink of war.

We were then told that we could start after the weekend. My family and I went to bed not knowing what to expect.

Our cell phones start ringing in the middle of the night, even though they are actually set to silent. The sirens in the village wail. It’s the Home Front Command, which raises the alarm in the event of war or disaster. The shrill sound jolts us out of our sleep and immediately puts us in fear.

Since the last alarm in the night was over a year ago, it takes us by surprise. The older children are suddenly standing in our bedroom. In a blur, I see on the display that we have to get ready immediately. Terrible thoughts and ideas flash through my mind. What has happened? But also: what else is going to happen? Would they use a nuclear bomb? Meanwhile, the message is unspecific: “Please stand by, the sirens will go off shortly.”

I grab our six-year-old, stumble down the stairs and ram the end of the banister into my stomach with all my might, so much so that some time later I’m afraid I’ll have to go to hospital. But I hardly feel any pain because we are on the run. As we don’t have our own bunker in the house, we take refuge under the stairs first. We feel unsafe there and see in our cell phone app that we still have a few minutes. We immediately decide to drive to the public bunker. All the children in the car, the little ones simply in the trunk, the eldest opens the gate, my wife Alex has the baby in her arms, the engine roars, we hurry. When we arrive at the bunker, we are greeted by other neighbors. No one knows anything more specific. Then they say: “Israel has attacked Iran, we’re waiting for the counterattack.”

Shortly afterwards, the powerful Arrow and David’s Sling missiles rise up not far from us. Huge missiles compared to the Iron Dome, which ideally intercept enemy rockets at the country’s borders. Many of the rockets aimed at the center of Israel are intercepted in our region above our heads. It’s a good thing we have an underground bunker. Most of the people we meet there don’t have their own shelter at home.

Tremendous vibration: Bunker wall shakes

For the first few days, it remains relatively quiet in the bunker during the alarms. No wonder with volleys of up to 100 rockets. They are destructive waves of attacks. The rockets are powerful. The noise above us is so loud that even the thick bunker walls vibrate.

After the all-clear, we drive back home. From this moment on, our nights are repeatedly interrupted when the cell phones ring and the sirens go off in the village. We usually only sleep during the day. For a week now, we’ve always had to be ready, always, and if there’s not enough time, we sit under the stairs.

It is different from the war with Hezbollah. We have understood the great danger posed by the rockets. It doesn’t even have to be a direct hit, because even the debris from intercepted rockets is sometimes so large and heavy that it can easily smash through roofs and ceilings.

Like stars falling from the sky

It is difficult to describe what we are experiencing. It just seems surreal. In the morning you hope you’ve only dreamed it. I’ll never forget one night when we were too late and the fiery defensive missiles were already shooting with a deafening noise a few hundred meters above the roof of our car. We see how missiles are intercepted. It looks like stars are falling from the sky.

We have six children. Our eldest is 23 years old, the baby is just eleven months old. Our two youngest were very scared at first. They can’t understand the conflict, but they sense the danger. It hurts us a lot that they have to experience this as children. But we also look at how we cope as adults. If we radiate calm, they are calmer too. That is hard work.

Even though we live further north, there are places in our area that I am not allowed to describe, but which are potential targets. We have experienced what it’s like when they come into the crosshairs.

Missile alarm at 4:41 in the morning. Each flag stands for a district in which the air-raid sirens are wailing. Cell phone screenshot: Benjamin Funk

We are the only Germans here, and no Jews either. Our village has only 800 inhabitants. The fact that as Germans we don’t (and can’t) flee is highly appreciated. We have been accepted. Israelis are incredibly pragmatic. Of course they are also afraid, but they look to the future. “This too will come to an end,” an elderly woman says to us as we stand in front of the bunker after an alarm. They know each other by now. No wonder, when people meet there day and night. In difficult times, it is an amazingly good community and we can learn a lot from those who have already experienced several wars.