Photos of how Bedouins in Israel improvise shelters to survive missile threats
Siblings mimic the sound of sirens that alert incoming rocket and missile fire, while sitting inside an open concrete bomb shelter in Al-Zarnug, an unrecognized Bedouin community in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
For Israel’s 300,000-strong Bedouin community, there are no shelters to protect them from incoming missiles, so they have to improvise: hiding in steel containers and vehicles buried under 10 feet (3 meters) of dirt and repurposing reconstruction debris in the hope of some protection.
For the previously nomadic tribe that lives scattered across the arid Negev Desert, the threats of missiles became even more dire during the 12-day war with Iran last month.
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Ahmad Abu Ganima poses for a portrait in the window of the minibus buried in the earth, a makeshift bomb shelter his family uses in Khashem Zaneh, an unrecognized Bedouin village in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Ahmad Abu Ganima poses for a portrait in the window of the minibus buried in the earth, a makeshift bomb shelter his family uses in Khashem Zaneh, an unrecognized Bedouin village in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A Bedouin prepares tea in the makeshift shelter he shares with some 100 in his community to protect them from incoming Iranian fire, in a drainage culvert near Arad, southern Israel, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
A Bedouin prepares tea in the makeshift shelter he shares with some 100 in his community to protect them from incoming Iranian fire, in a drainage culvert near Arad, southern Israel, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
Suleiman Gaboa holds a piece of metal from a projectile that fell in his Bedouin community, where residents do not have bomb shelters to protect them from incoming Iranian fire, in the Negev desert in southern Israel, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
Suleiman Gaboa holds a piece of metal from a projectile that fell in his Bedouin community, where residents do not have bomb shelters to protect them from incoming Iranian fire, in the Negev desert in southern Israel, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
The Gaboa family, Bedouins living in Al-Furaa village in southern Israel, gather around the makeshift bomb shelter they made from two gravel trucks buried in dirt to protect them from incoming Iranian fire, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
The Gaboa family, Bedouins living in Al-Furaa village in southern Israel, gather around the makeshift bomb shelter they made from two gravel trucks buried in dirt to protect them from incoming Iranian fire, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
Mohammed Abu Ganima, 7, peers out of a makeshift shelter in his Bedouin village: a minibus buried in the earth to try to protect his family from incoming Iranian fire, in Khashem Zaneh, an unrecognized village in the Negev Desert in southern Israel, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
Mohammed Abu Ganima, 7, peers out of a makeshift shelter in his Bedouin village: a minibus buried in the earth to try to protect his family from incoming Iranian fire, in Khashem Zaneh, an unrecognized village in the Negev Desert in southern Israel, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
The Gaboa family, Bedouins living in Al-Furaa village in southern Israel, gather around the makeshift bomb shelter they made from two gravel trucks buried in dirt to protect them from incoming Iranian fire, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The Gaboa family, Bedouins living in Al-Furaa village in southern Israel, gather around the makeshift bomb shelter they made from two gravel trucks buried in dirt to protect them from incoming Iranian fire, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A Bedouin shines his flashlight into the makeshift shelter he shares with some 100 in his community to protect them from incoming Iranian fire, a drainage culvert near Arad, southern Israel, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A Bedouin shines his flashlight into the makeshift shelter he shares with some 100 in his community to protect them from incoming Iranian fire, a drainage culvert near Arad, southern Israel, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A Bedouin youth rides his bicycle at sunset in Khashem Zane, an unrecognized Bedouin village in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A Bedouin youth rides his bicycle at sunset in Khashem Zane, an unrecognized Bedouin village in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Girls wear fancy dresses for a wedding celebration spanning several days in Al-Zarnug, an unrecognized Bedouin community in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Girls wear fancy dresses for a wedding celebration spanning several days in Al-Zarnug, an unrecognized Bedouin community in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A man rides his bicycle out of Al-Zarnug, an unrecognized Bedouin community in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A man rides his bicycle out of Al-Zarnug, an unrecognized Bedouin community in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Children’s handprints on the wall of a building in Al-Zarnug, an unrecognized Bedouin community in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Children’s handprints on the wall of a building in Al-Zarnug, an unrecognized Bedouin community in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A girl plays a drum during a wedding celebration spanning several days in Al-Zarnug, an unrecognized Bedouin community in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A girl plays a drum during a wedding celebration spanning several days in Al-Zarnug, an unrecognized Bedouin community in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A resident guides a bomb shelter donated by the Israeli-Palestinian group Standing Together to the Bedouin community of Khirbet Al-Watan, southern Israel, where most villages are unrecognized by the state and use makeshift shelters to take cover from Iranian missiles, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
A resident guides a bomb shelter donated by the Israeli-Palestinian group Standing Together to the Bedouin community of Khirbet Al-Watan, southern Israel, where most villages are unrecognized by the state and use makeshift shelters to take cover from Iranian missiles, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.