Palestinians in Jaffa denied access to bomb shelter by Israeli neighbours

Palestinians in Jaffa say they are being denied access by their Israeli neighbours to an underground bomb shelter which they had previously been allowed to use during Israel’s escalating war with Iran.

Residents of Yehuda Hayamit Street told Middle East Eye they had been told the entry code giving them access to the shelter had been changed after about a dozen or so of them had taken refuge there in recent days as sirens sounded, following Iranian missile attacks targeting nearby Tel Aviv.

They say the episode highlights the discrimination and the dangers they face as Palestinian citizens of Israel even in one of the country’s mixed cities, where about a third of the population remains Palestinian.

Nasir Ktelat, a 63-year-old with health issues who lives in a fourth-story apartment across the road from the shelter, said that he and others from his residence had been given access by someone on their building committee, and said it had been usual for those living in nearby older buildings to gather there when sirens sounded.

Read more: Palestinians in Jaffa denied access to bomb shelter by Israeli neighbours