After three days of closed airspace left tens of thousands of Israelis stranded abroad, Israel’s Transportation Ministry has announced a temporary solution: two emergency rescue cruises will depart from Cyprus to bring citizens back home.
As part of the emergency plan, Transportation Minister and cabinet member Miri Regev reached an agreement Sunday evening with businessman Moshe Mano, head of Mano Maritime, to launch two rescue sailings from Cyprus. According to a Channel 12 News report, the agreement was reached following discussions about utilizing maritime routes to repatriate Israelis amid the ongoing airspace closure prompted by attacks on Iran. So far, only the two initial voyages have been confirmed, and no registration details or official forms have been released yet.
Earlier in the day, Arkia CEO Oz Berlovitz issued a direct plea to the prime minister, security officials, and the transportation minister, urging immediate government intervention. He warned of a rapidly escalating aviation crisis caused by the closure of Israeli airspace.
“There are about 200,000 Israelis stuck abroad — including hundreds of doctors, medical personnel, soldiers on emergency reserve call-up orders, patients, and small children without their parents — with no way to return home,” Berlovitz said.
Despite the situation, Berlovitz emphasized that Israeli airlines, including Arkia, are fully prepared, with aircraft and crews waiting in nearby countries, ready to take off as soon as clearance is granted.
“Since the airspace was closed due to the security escalation, tens of thousands of Israelis remain stranded without a practical solution or a clear path home,” Berlovitz stated. “The current framework, which permits only two landings per hour during daylight hours, is far from a real solution. At that pace, bringing everyone home could take weeks — or even longer.”
He concluded by calling on decision-makers to treat the situation as a national emergency. “The current outline doesn’t reflect the reality on the ground. I urge leaders to revise it immediately and establish a wide-scale air bridge to bring Israeli citizens home without delay.”
{Matzav.com Israel}
When missile alerts sound across Israel in the still hours before dawn, it’s no accident. Iran has consistently chosen nighttime for its missile attacks, a decision that goes far beyond mere darkness. This timing is rooted in calculated military logic, technical limitations, and a desire to disorient the enemy.
Dr. Itay Gal explored this issue in a fascinating analysis published in the Jerusalem Post, shedding light on the rationale behind these nocturnal offensives.
Though it may seem obvious that night provides cover, the reasons for striking after sunset extend beyond simple concealment. There are multiple overlapping factors at play—some mechanical, others strategic, and all serving a broader goal of intimidation and surprise.
One of the most important technical considerations is that missiles, unlike airplanes, cannot draw oxygen from the air to ignite their engines. Instead, they must carry both the fuel and a separate oxidizing agent onboard, enabling combustion even at high altitudes where oxygen is virtually nonexistent.
This necessity creates two distinct missile types: those fueled with liquid propellants and those using solid fuel—each with unique capabilities and vulnerabilities.
Iran’s arsenal of long-distance missiles—like the Shahab models—typically depends on liquid fuel. Preparing these weapons for launch involves a complicated and time-consuming process. Two separate storage tanks, one for fuel and another for the oxidizer, must be filled precisely. The procedure is dangerous and demands a fixed launch location and support personnel, leaving the missile exposed for long stretches.
This fueling stage is also the most opportune moment for enemies to detect and strike. Surveillance satellites and high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft pose a significant threat. To mitigate this, Iran generally carries out fueling and related preparations at night, when reduced visibility hampers aerial tracking.
Shorter-range systems, such as the Fateh-110 or Zolfaghar, utilize solid fuel. These missiles are factory-loaded with a blend of fuel and oxidizer, allowing for rapid deployment. They can be launched from mobile units without requiring on-site fueling, making them far more agile and harder to target in advance.
However, solid-fuel rockets lack flexibility once launched. Their engines cannot be throttled down or shut off after ignition—what’s lit must fly. The benefit is speed and readiness, while the drawback is inflexibility.
People often wonder why missile engines need built-in oxidizers. The answer lies in the altitudes at which these weapons travel. Whereas jet engines pull oxygen from the air, ballistic missiles rise so high into the atmosphere—sometimes hundreds of kilometers—that oxygen is either insufficient or entirely absent. These rockets must therefore be entirely self-contained in their propulsion systems.
Ultimately, Iran’s preference for nighttime strikes is a calculated tactic. It accounts for the mechanics of its missile technology, the strategic advantage of stealth, and the psychological toll on civilians suddenly awakened by sirens and explosions.
By combining different missile types, varying launch platforms, and the cloak of night, Iran seeks to amplify its operational resilience and sow fear—even if the missiles themselves don’t always hit their targets.
In modern warfare, when a missile is fired can be just as impactful as where it lands.
{Matzav.com Israel}
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Security camera footage made public on Monday captured the devastating scene as an Iranian missile struck a residential complex in Petach Tikva in the early hours, erupting into a massive fireball upon contact.
The tragic attack claimed the lives of four people. According to an initial assessment from the Home Front Command, two of those who died had taken shelter in a reinforced room (mamad), but the missile hit the area between two such protected spaces in the structure.
WATCH:
Another casualty appears to have been in an apartment located directly above the point of impact, while a fourth individual lost their life in a neighboring building, likely due to the immense force of the explosion.
The Home Front Command emphasized that although mamad rooms are effective at shielding residents from shrapnel and secondary blast effects, they are not built to endure a direct missile strike. Despite the direct hit, other residents who were inside their mamad rooms survived.
Overnight, Iran launched approximately 40 surface-to-surface missiles at Israel, leading to the deaths of eight civilians and injuries to over 100 people. Magen David Adom and other emergency responders rushed to five separate sites hit across the country.
In Haifa, the bodies of three people who had been missing were discovered in a factory that had caught fire. In Bnei Brak, an elderly man, aged 80, was killed when a missile landed nearby. In Petach Tikva, the missile attack on the residential building took four lives.
Tel Aviv also experienced two strikes, one of which caused damage to the US Embassy grounds. Since hostilities with Iran began, 24 civilians have lost their lives.
{Matzav.com Israel}
Avraham Cohen, age 75, lost his life in Bnei Brak overnight when an Iranian missile strike struck the area. Rescue teams later recovered his body from the wreckage.
The missile barrage that took Avraham’s life also resulted in seven more civilian deaths, with casualties reported in both Petach Tikva and Haifa.
In Petach Tikva, two people were inside a mamad—a reinforced security room—when the missile hit. Despite being in what is typically a protected area, they were fatally injured. Another person in the same structure and a fourth in a neighboring building died from the force of the explosion.
In Haifa, emergency personnel searching through a heavily damaged factory located three individuals who had gone missing. All were found deceased amid the aftermath of a large blaze that had engulfed the site.
Tel Aviv also came under fire, with two missile strikes confirmed. One of the impacts hit within the vicinity of the US Embassy complex, causing structural damage.
This deadly attack brought the total number of civilian deaths since the war with Iran began to 24.
Roughly 40 surface-to-surface missiles were fired toward Israel during the night, escalating the already intense conflict.
{Matzav.com Israel}
