{"id":91789,"date":"2026-03-01T08:00:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T13:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/?p=91789"},"modified":"2026-03-01T14:25:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T19:25:36","slug":"sirens-shelters-and-an-empty-old-city-jerusalem-rattled-on-the-first-day-of-war-with-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/sirens-shelters-and-an-empty-old-city-jerusalem-rattled-on-the-first-day-of-war-with-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"Sirens, shelters and an empty Old City: Jerusalem rattled on the first day of war with Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

By THEIA CHATELLE<\/p>\n

(JTA) \u2014 JERUSALEM \u2014 Jacob Phillips\u2019 first trip to Israel from his home in Germany was in 2023, to visit Holocaust survivors in Tel Aviv as part of a university program. It was cut short by the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, which forced him to leave the country.<\/p>\n

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Pedestrians run for cover in central Jerusalem following incoming missile sirens amid the war between Israel and Iran, Feb. 28, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He returned with his girlfriend this month to see the sites he missed. \u201cBecause the last trip, it was a harsh cut,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we came back, to visit the people I met here in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Phillips and his girlfriend Michelle were among the very few people walking the streets in Jerusalem as another war unfolded, with Iran. The war, which began when Israel and the United States together attacked Iran early Saturday, had already sent them multiple times to shelters and scrambled their departure plans for next Thursday. Ben Gurion Airport is closed until at least March 7.<\/p>\n

Phillips said he was in touch with the German consulate and felt safe in Jerusalem despite the incoming missiles, citing Israel\u2019s Iron Dome air defense system. He said he remained happy to be in Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to come here to learn about the Jewish experience, especially as a German, and I feel like I have gotten to see so much of it,\u201d Phillips said.<\/p>\n

While missile impacts rocked Tel Aviv and elsewhere in Israel, an eerie calm pervaded the streets of Jerusalem on Saturday, extreme even for Shabbat, as residents hunkered down at home between the sirens that indicated that war with Iran had begun anew. The sirens scattered the prayer services that dot the holy city and disrupted plans for shared meals.<\/p>\n

The gates of the Old City were closed by Israeli police to everyone but residents. A crowd of Hasidic Jews argued with officers, petitioning for entry to pray at the Western Wall but ultimately giving up and turning back.<\/p>\n

One resident who ventured out between air raid alerts said the assault had provided \u201cpauses just long enough to walk up the stairs before heading back [to the shelter] again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those who braved journeys away from their homes offered a general consensus that the war would be significantly worse this time around, only nine months after a 12-day war that led to the deaths of 32 Israelis. In that conflict, Iran launched more than 500 ballistic missiles at Israel and targets throughout the Middle East in retaliation for strikes that Israel initiated and the United States joined.<\/p>\n

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