Amid ongoing missile attacks in Israel, numerous Arab Israeli citizens report being denied access to bomb shelters, raising allegations of systemic racial discrimination and violations of international humanitarian standards, according to a detailed investigation by France 24.

Shelter Doors Closed on Arab Citizens

Footage and testimony collected by France 24 show Arab Israelis, including a Druze man in Dalit al-Karmel, being turned away from shelters during missile alerts. Some were told explicitly they were being excluded “because they were Arabs.” In one instance, a new entry code to a Tel Aviv shelter was changed to “1948”—a pointed reference to the Nakba.

Knesset Member Ofer Cassif demanded emergency reporting lines be set up and called the exclusion “a fundamentally reprehensible phenomenon.”

No Shelters, No Alerts in Arab Communities

In Tamra, where four women were killed in a June 14 strike, no public shelters exist for its nearly 40,000 residents. A 2018 Israeli State Comptroller report found that 46% of Arab citizens lack access to proper shelters, compared to 26% of the general population.

NGOs like Sikkuy-Aufoq and Adalah say discriminatory planning laws and bureaucratic hurdles prevent Arabs from building protected rooms (“mamad”) or accessing municipal alert systems, especially in unrecognized Bedouin villages.

Bedouin Communities Left Exposed

In the Negev, over 130,000 people—mostly Bedouins—live in villages unrecognized by the state. They lack electricity, water, and critically, bomb shelters. “If you don’t have internet, you won’t even get siren alerts,” said Adalah’s field coordinator Marwan Abu Frieh.

NGOs are installing mobile shelters costing over $12,000 each, but with only 350 deployed, the need for 12,000 remains unmet.

A Legal Breach and Humanitarian Crisis

Israeli law mandates shelter access for all during wartime, but reports suggest this is not being upheld equally. Families with children, pet owners, foreign workers, and Ukrainian refugees have also faced exclusion. The findings point to institutionalized racial inequity, made more deadly under wartime conditions.