Tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate, affecting thousands of civilians in Iran and Israel.
69 News reporter Jessica Heisey spoke with Harry Fisher, who is a Lehigh Valley resident and former Morning Call photographer, but is visiting Israel to be with his children and grandchildren who live there.
He often spends time in Israel and has seen many of these conflicts firsthand, including the October 7th attacks by Hamas. Now he’s describing daily life under missile alerts, balancing fear, family and moments of hope.
“It is disconcerting,” Fisher says. “You kind of hope for the best and mentally prepare for the worst.”
In Beit Shemesh, sirens have been sounding multiple times a day. Families have just 90 seconds to get to shelter. Daily routines are disrupted, schools are closed, and most are sheltering in place, only leaving for necessities.
“Every time a siren goes off, if we have to evacuate this particular room, we have to go down seven flights of stairs to a safe place in a fortified stairwell,” Fisher says.
The danger is real. Just miles from Fisher’s apartment, a recent missile strike killed nine people and injured over 20.
“I heard a sound that was beyond the normal sounds of those iron domes,” Fisher described. “When that missile hit ground, I knew intuitively the missile hit ground. I heard a very sense of very deep impact. It sounded like something really, really huge and powerful hit what I thought was the ground. And of course, within minutes I learned that it wasn’t the ground. It was unfortunately a structure.”
Even in the midst of fear, families try to carry on. Harry and his wife are helping their daughter, who is expecting her third child within days.
“There is no normalcy, I should say, when you’re in a state of war like this,” Fisher says. “The part that gives me comfort is I’m really able to be here for my grandchildren, my children who need me here right now.”
Moments of calm are interrupted by the constant reminder of conflict.
“The prior night I think we had to get up at least three times, you know, just literally throw our clothes on as fast as we could. The whole country is sort of reeling from the fact that, you know, there’s now death and destruction on many fronts,” Fisher says.
Through this uncertainty, those like Harry continue to live their lives, keeping faith, family and hope at the center of each day.
“We’re praying for everybody’s safety,” Fisher added. “And we’ll look forward to a more peaceful time when, you know, we won’t have this to even talk about.”
Harry emphasized that Monday night is the beginning of the Jewish holiday Purim, which he says is considered to be the happiest day in the Jewish calendar, making the conflict even more disheartening.
He says his flight back to the states is currently scheduled for March 15th, but as flights remain shut down, it is unclear if that date will change.