Canadians in Israel and Iran were surprised by the Iranian attack on Israel on Saturday.
Leah Appel woke up around 1:45 a.m. Sunday to feel the salvoes rock her apartment building in Jerusalem.
“It was as if 1,000-ton weights had been dropped into the apartment above ours and our whole room was shaking,” said the native Montrealer in a telephone interview.
” I said to [mon mari, Moshe] :”What is that?” He opened the window and there was just fire in the sky. »
That’s when sirens sounded and the couple and their two children carried a bag full of clothes, food and essentials to the apartment’s air raid shelter.
The parents of Francis Weil, president of the Jewish community of Moncton, New Brunswick, are based in Jerusalem and Netanya, on the Mediterranean shore. “Last night they were sending messages saying they were scared, but this morning they feel a lot, a lot of relief and they feel a really, really big weight off their shoulders,” he said.
In Tehran, the news of the attack on Israel was also a surprise for Alireza Ghandchi.
The Richmond Hill, Ont., resident, who was visiting his parents, said the atmosphere was frightening, amid fears a retaliatory attack by Israel could be carried out overnight.
“The population is tense and worried about the Israeli response,” he said. I hope things calm down. »
Israeli military officials said Saturday that Iran launched 300 drones and missiles against their country, but 99 percent of them were intercepted. They reported little damage.
Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza has reignited tensions between Israel and Iran.
In the October 7 attack that sparked the current conflict, Iran-backed Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others.
The subsequent Israeli offensive in Gaza caused widespread damage and killed more than 33,000 people, according to local health authorities.