As Iranian Missiles Strike Israel, Solidarity Strengthens Among Negev’s Bedouin and Dimona Residents

One of the first to arrive at the devastating scenes of the direct Iranian ballistic missile attacks on Dimona and Arad last weekend was emergency first responder and physician, Dr. Tarek Abu Arar, from the Bedouin community, Arara BaNegev, near Dimona.“The scenes of these attacks were very difficult,” Dr. Abu Arar told the New York Sun. “Bleeding children, hysterical parents in pajamas, elderly in wheelchairs and those hooked to oxygen tanks — we did everything we could to rescue people and children from the rubble and debris.”Dr. Arar said that it was especially challenging to rescue the more vulnerable like the elderly, disabled and young children. “The hardest thing is to work through all the chaos and fear.”On Saturday night, two Iranian ballistic missiles packed with hundreds of kilograms of explosives, directly struck the southern Israeli cities, injuring more than 200 people, including 70 children, and shattering apartment blocks in Arad while heavily damaging homes and apartments in Dimona. Air defense systems failed to intercept the missile fire, which miraculously hit between apartment buildings in both cities. Iran claimed that the attacks were in response to the American strike on the energy facility in Natanz.Following the missile strikes, hundreds of residents from Dimona and Arad were displaced from their homes. According to the Alma Research and Education Center, around 5,000 Israelis have been displaced from their homes because of Iranian missile strikes in the last three weeks, including in the cities of Tel Aviv, Beit Shemesh, Beer Sheva, and now Dimona and Arad. “We did everything to locate trapped individuals, help parents find missing children, and provide people with immediate medical assistance and transportation to hosptials” said Dr. Abu Arar, who arrived at the scenes of both missile attacks.Dr. Abu Arar volunteers as a first responder for the emergency medical service organizations, United Hatzalah and Magen David Adom. This is not his first time witnessing an emergency situation of this gravity.On October 7, Dr. Abu Arar was on his way to work his shift in the emergency room in Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, when he saw someone lying on the side of the road, apparently injured. As the physician approached, the man dressed in an IDF uniform shot at Dr. Abu Arar and began speaking to him in Arabic. He quickly understood that this was a Hamas terrorist. Ten more Hamas terrorists emerged from the bushes and began interrogating him in Arabic, questioning his knowledge of Islam.The terrorists tied Dr. Abu Arar to a pole in the junction, forcing him to watch them shoot and kill occupants of every car driving by. After a few hours, an IDF commando unit was finally able to rescue him from his captors and stop the massacre at the junction.“As a Muslim Arab, I work with Jews who welcome and appreciate my community and my work. The mayor of Dimona, Benny Biton, is a close friend of ours and our friendship goes back generations, with our grandparents having worked closely with the people of Dimona.”“I don’t experience racism. I have Jewish friends in Dimona who come to visit me and they welcome us to their homes,” said Dr. Abu Arar.Indeed, the local head of the Arara Regional Council, Taleb Abu Arar, paid a solidarity visit to Dimona after the attack and met with mayor Benny Biton. He described how he alerted the medics and physicians in Arara to the missile attacks in neighboring Dimona and in Arad to the unfolding situation.“You are not alone,” he told the Dimona residents on Sunday. “We are by your side and share your fate.”“I feel that since October 7, the connection between us has only grown stronger,” Dr. Abu Arar told the New York Sun. Dr. Abu Arar, who specializes in cardiology, and his wife, Magdoleen, who is a nurse in Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva, have two children.“I will always treat people no matter who they are — either during war or in the emergency room. I will be the first to respond to every scene,” said. Dr. Abu Arar.“I hope these wars will come to an end but we will always have enemies — Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Iran and the Houthis in Yemen. It doesn’t seem to end. But our strength is in our unity. I believe we will come out of this war stronger.”

As Iranian Missiles Strike Israel, Solidarity Strengthens Among Negev’s Bedouin and Dimona Residents

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