Israeli cities take precautionary step of opening bomb shelters

The IDF said Home Front Command instructions remain unchanged nationwide and advised the public to remain alert.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Several Israeli municipalities opened public bomb shelters after local security assessments found an increased risk of possible Iranian missile fire, while the Israel Defense Forces maintained that nationwide Home Front Command guidelines remain unchanged.

Municipal officials in Ramat Gan, Eilat, Karmiel and Kiryat Gat said the precautionary measures were taken following assessments that the possibility of missile attacks from Iran over the weekend had risen.

“We decided to open all the shelters in the city,” Ramat Gan Mayor Carmel Shama-Hacohen said in a social media post.

“A situation assessment found that the risk of missile fire from Iran over the weekend has increased and is no longer negligible,” he said. “Despite the cost of opening them, it is right to exercise extra caution, and hopefully this opening will prove unnecessary.”

Shama-Hacohen also called on residential building committees to ensure communal shelters were ready and accessible.

Despite the municipal decisions, the IDF said Home Front Command instructions remain unchanged nationwide and advised the public to remain alert.

Israel’s civilian protection system relies on a combination of private safe rooms, communal building shelters and public shelters.

Civil defense shortages mean about one in three Israelis does not have direct access to a protected space.

When air raid sirens sound, civilians are instructed to immediately enter the nearest designated shelter and remain there until the Home Front Command announces it is safe to leave.

The municipal announcements came as President Donald Trump told Axios he was considering a significantly expanded military operation against Iran.

“I am considering a massive attack. Bigger than ever before. I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it,” Trump told Axios.

Trump did not provide a timetable for a decision. Two U.S. officials also told Axios that no final decision had been made and no new military orders had been issued.

The president said Israel “would join in two minutes if I ask them to,” but added that “we don’t need anybody” to launch another operation against Iran. He also warned there would be “consequences” if Israel participated, indicating Iranian retaliation against Israel could follow.