A former University of Southern California basketball player living and playing professionally in Israel sheltered with teammates and neighbors over the weekend as the country joined the United States in military operations against Iran.
Destiny Littleton, who played at Southern California as a graduate student after four seasons at hoops powerhouse South Carolina, plays professionally for Hapoel Lev Jerusalem. With airspace closed, Littleton remains in Jerusalem and spoke to NBCLA Monday from a teammate’s apartment after a weekend of uncertainty that began with the ominous sounds of sirens Saturday morning.
It was Littleton’s first experience with the emergency sirens in Jerusalem. She joined Hapoel Lev Jerusalem in November.
“Whenever there’s a big emergency, they use sirens,” she said. “I was on the phone and I was like, ‘Are these ambulance sirens and police sirens?’ I opened the door and was like, “Oh no, these are something’s wrong sirens”
Her team manager called immediately, explaining what was happening and providing directions to a neighbor’s safety bunker. Soon after, she received a notification on her phone — be prepared.
“Once the sirens go off, you have to go inside either to a bunker or a safe space,” Littleton said. “It’s kind of been the protocol here for the last few days.”
In videos shared on Instagram, Littleton documented the sounds of explosions, missiles in the sky and her experience with her teammates and neighbors.
Asked how many times she took shelter over thee weekend, Littleton said, “Tons. It became a point where we were just like, “Oh, there’s a siren. Oh, there’s a siren.
“Our bodies were just kind of numb to it all. It was in that moment I realized this is real.”
By Monday, Littleton said the sirens had diminished.
“Today has actually been pretty calm,” Littleton said Monday afternoon. “We had a night of quietness. No alarms woke us up.
“”I’m safe in the sense nothing has happened to me, but it’s hard to feel 100-percent safe when I’m in an active war zone.”
The United States and Israel struck thousands of targets in Iran over the weekend, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In response, Iran escalated attacks on Israel and across the Middle East.
Eleven people were killed in Israel, officials said.
President Trump on Monday said war with Iran could last a month or longer.
Four U.S. service members have been killed.