'They're weak': Israelis back conflict with Iran in neighbourhood struck by missile

Bat Yam, just south of Tel Aviv, has long been a stronghold of support for Israel's right-wing governing coalition. In the early hours of Sunday morning, an Iranian missile struck a 10-storey block of flats here, killing at least eight people and trapping dozens more under thick layers of rubble. Despite the severe damage, locals strongly back Israel's attack on Iran, which began on Friday and has targeted nuclear facilities, missile sites, air defences, an airport and other infrastructure as well as nuclear and military personnel. "It needed to be done," says Veronica Osipchik, 33, who lives about 200m (321ft) from the strike site. "But we didn't expect it to affect us like this." Ms Osipchik had the windows and shutters of her apartment completely blown through. Almost every building in the vicinity suffered similar damage. "We were in shock," she said, sat on a camping chair alongside a suitcase packed with food and toiletries. The ballistic missiles that caused the damage in Bat Yam are far more powerful than the rockets fired by Hamas and Hezbollah over the past year and half. Those are mostly intercepted by Israel's sophisticated air defence system. The first of those trapped under rubble were pulled out within hours. As of late Sunday, at least three people remained unaccounted for. "I saw fear in their eyes," said rescue paramedic Ori Lazarovich. "People came out all grey, covered in soot and ash and debris." Avi, a 68-year old who did not want to give his surname, was born and raised in Bat Yam. "We need to keep hitting [Iran]" he says. "Of course we have to keep going. Otherwise, they'll drop an atomic bomb on us." "They're weak. We're much stronger," he adds. "Israel is number one in the world." Emil Mahmudov, 18, agreed: "We should have done this sooner. That's what most Israelis think." Israel's justification for its attack on Iran is to stop its nuclear programme. For well over a decade, successive governments have sounded alarm about the Iranian regime gaining nuclear weapons - something Iran denies seeking. Even as Netanyahu has come under fire within Israel for the state of the war in Gaza, his chief political rivals - Benny Gantz, Avigdor Lieberman and Yair Lapid - have all expressed support for attacking Iran. Professor Yossi Mekelberg, of the Middle East Programme at Chatham House, says there has "always been support to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear military capabilities". But, he says, "this is much bigger than fighting Hamas in Gaza, even Hezbollah in Lebanon, or a very limited direct confrontation with Iran." "This is evolving into a full-blown war. And there is fatigue in Israel after 20 months of war." "If there are more casualties, if people are spending a long time in shelters, and if it becomes, again, another never-ending war," then support, he says, could erode. By mid-afternoon on Sunday, Israel's far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir - who wasrecently sanctioned by the UK government for "inciting violence against Palestinians"- arrived in Bat Yam to meet mourners. Flanked by a cohort of armed security personnel, he shook hands with shop owners along a street where many had their windows blown through by the shock of the blast. One, who did not want to give his name, was sat on a plastic chair outside his bakery, which he'd run for 29 years. He said he was there to prevent looting. Does he support opening a new front against Iran? "Of course," he says, waving his hands. "What kind of question is that?" Netanyahu also visited Bat Yam on Sunday, to chants of "Bibi, King of Israel" - a play on a popular song about the Biblical warrior King David that many Jewish children learn in school. Hours later, in an evening address, he mourned the dead, telling the nation: "This is a difficult day. I told you, there will be difficult days." Even with broad support for the conflict, if it continues to escalate - and civilian deaths continue to rise - there will be a question over how many difficult days the Israeli public will tolerate.