Star Metro - Tel Aviv residents say ready to withstand more Iranian attacks

The US and Israel launched a wave of strikes against Iran on Saturday, sparking a rapid retaliation from Tehran which continued to send people running to shelters under wailing sirens and overhead blasts on Sunday.

At the site of Saturday's missile strike, the shell of a crumpled apartment building with its windows blown out overshadowed a huge crater, where heavy machinery and teams in high visibility vests were working to clear the rubble.

Wires and twisted metal hung from the building and charred tree trunks lay on the ground.

More than twelve hours after the hit, the area still smelled faintly of burning.

Further down the leafy street, rows of apartment blocks stood with their windows shattered.

Around 100 metres (yards) from the blast site, the apartment of Ariel, a 32-year-old finance worker, lay littered with debris from the impact.

"It's not nice to see your home broken, all my memories are here. But we know that in the war with all the bombs, it can happen," he told AFP.

"It's not nice, but it's OK, we'll be strong, we continue."

Such scenes of devastation are fresh in the memories of all Israelis, but particularly residents of the Tel Aviv area, which was badly hit during the previous confrontation between the two arch-foes last June.

Israel's sophisticated air defence systems have shot down many missiles fired from Iran, but Saturday's strike served as a stark reminder that interceptors do not provide guaranteed protection.

"We're not scared, we're used to it," Ariel explained, saying he hoped that Israel was "going to win and change the situation in the Middle East because we need that this was worth it, all the apartments, all the civilians hurt".

Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service said a woman was killed and at least 21 were injured on Saturday night in the Tel Aviv area.

- 'Always have hope' -

While in Tel Aviv on Sunday, AFP journalists heard sirens signalling an incoming missile attack from Iran, prompting dozens of people nearby to run for cover in a nearby shelter.

While underground, 56-year-old Gil, a local resident, recalled how he had performed the same grim routine the night before.

"We were here and we heard a big noise, a big boom, and we realised it's something in the neighbourhood," he told AFP.

"We started getting some notifications from people staying at their homes that it had happened and there was glass all over and when we went out, it smelled like something was on fire and it was a bit scary."

But all the Israelis AFP spoke to expressed resilience, saying that seeking cover from missile attacks was something that they had grown used to.

They may need to endure it for some time, after Iran's Revolutionary Guards vowed to launch the "most ferocious" operation in history following the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.

"They want to bring it on, then bring it on," said 23-year-old Uri inside the Tel Aviv bomb shelter.

"You never get used to it, but I think we've toughened up and we understand there is no choice," he told AFP.

"If we have to go 30 times... for tomorrow to be better, we'll do it each time because we always have hope."

N.Fournier--SMC