Photos show life in Israel's bomb shelters during the Iran war

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — When sirens and cellphone alerts blare warnings of missiles incoming from Iran, people in Israel stream into shelters, turning parking garages, metro stations and basements into temporary communities.

These images show how surreal the scenes can become when life is interrupted at any moment day or night, and how, after constant waves of conflict, Israelis have found ways to quickly adapt, snatching a few moments of relief even as tensions rise.

A woman dressed as a bride rides on the back of a man dressed as a turtle during a singles event in an underground parking garage used as a shelter against possible Iranian missile attacks in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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People gather in a bomb shelter as air raid sirens warn of incoming missiles from Iran in Ramat Gan, Israel, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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Medical staff transfer patients in a temporary emergency ward set up in a parking garage used as a shelter beneath Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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People sit around a makeshift dinner table with groceries beside tents as they take shelter beneath Tel Aviv’s central bus station as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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A temporary emergency ward is set up in a parking garage used as a shelter beneath Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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Inside one shelter, a bride-to-be poses with her family, continuing the wedding photo shoot they’d been doing above ground. Their big dresses take up much of the dark, cramped space. During the Jewish holiday of Purim, revelers in costumes — a Shrek, a horror-film nurse splattered with fake blood — crowd into an underground station, almost dreamlike against the gray walls.

A bride and her family sit in a bomb shelter after an alert warning of missiles fired from Iran toward central Israel interrupted their wedding photo shoot in a nearby park in Ramat Gan, Israel, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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People, some wearing costumes for the Jewish holiday of Purim, gather in an underground metro station used as a shelter against possible Iranian missile attacks in Ramat Gan, Israel, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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People sleep in an underground metro station used as a shelter against possible Iranian missile attacks in Ramat Gan, Israel, Saturday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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For many Israelis, heading to shelters is a familiar response shaped by past wars. Israel has an extensive system of private safe rooms and public shelters, unlike other nations across the region, including Iran and Lebanon, where residents are also seeking shelter from strikes. While the occupied West Bank is not being directly targeted, missiles can pass above the territory that has little access to shelters, and four Palestinian women were recently killed.

When warnings around Israel blare, shelters swell with people for 15 minutes, half an hour, however long the alert lasts.

Jewish men wrapped in prayer shawls pray in an underground parking garage used as a shelter against possible Iranian missile attacks in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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A woman sits on a mattress in an underground metro station serving as a bomb shelter amid the threat of possible Iranian missile attacks during the Jewish holiday of Purim in Ramat Gan, Israel, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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Some have moved completely underground because they don’t have access to shelters in poorer neighborhoods or have mobility issues.

Under Tel Aviv’s decrepit bus station, dozens of families have moved full-time into tents. Many are Filipino and Eritrean migrants from the surrounding area, Tel Aviv’s most decrepit, which lacks sufficient shelters. They go home for a few hours every day to cook and bring it back to share with others, creating an impromptu soup kitchen with ice coolers, microwaves and Tupperwares of food.

Israel’s hospitals quickly instituted their underground emergency procedures on the first day of the war with Iran. At Sheba Medical Center, a staffer blows bubbles to entertain a young patient in a makeshift ward set up on a parking level.

In the cavernous parking lot under Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Center mall, each day brings new, incongruous moments as thousands crowd within the echoing, concrete walls and pillars, where in normal times mallgoers wander in search of their cars.

Tents are seen set up beneath Tel Aviv’s central bus station, where people shelter as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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A child’s stuffed rabbit sits on one of the mattresses spread across an underground parking garage where people spend the night as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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People take cover in a bomb shelter beneath a shopping mall as air raid sirens warn of incoming missiles from Iran in Ramat Gan, Israel, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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A medical staff member entertains a young patient in a temporary emergency ward set up in a parking garage used as a shelter beneath Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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Children watch TV in an underground parking garage where people spend the night as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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Women in a yoga class slide into downward dog pose on mats laid across parking spots as a man nearby plays guitar. Miri Kaftor, who in normal times teaches yoga in a quiet studio nearby, has had to adapt to holding classes here under fluorescent lights with screaming kids riding scooters nearby.

A man plays the guitar as people attend a yoga class in an underground parking garage used as a shelter against possible Iranian missile attacks in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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Tents, mattresses and children’s toys are spread across an underground parking garage where people spend the night as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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Later that night, a stand-up comedian hosts a singles event in which a hopeful woman dressed as a bride laughs and rides on the back of a man wearing a turtle costume.

One corner becomes an impromptu prayer hall, where a circle of men in shawls bow their heads among the shadows. In another section, kids watch TV at a children’s play zone.

The photos give a look at daily life transplanted into sometimes claustrophobic spaces – down to the pets. A dog lies across the lap of a sleeping man. Another waits patiently in the darkness as people sit worried, bored, impatient, under a shelter’s neon light and the glow of a mobile phone.

Children play in an underground parking garage where people spend the night as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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A smiley face is painted on a blue wall beneath Tel Aviv’s central bus station, used as a shelter against possible Iranian missile attacks, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.

Photos show life in Israel’s bomb shelters during the Iran war

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