30.06.25, Bar Peleg, Haaretz
Despite their children attending local schools, three Eritrean asylum seeker families in the Haredi city of Bnei Brak remain in a missile-damaged building, denied municipal aid due to lack of legal status and absence from city tax records
Some 650 feet from the site where an Iranian missile struck the city of Bnei Brak in central Israel stands a crumbling apartment block with not a single window left intact. The missile hit an educational facility in the predominantly ultra-Orthodox city, killing local resident Avraham Cohen and leaving nearby buildings in a similar state of disrepair.
While municipal authorities relocated most of the building’s residents to hotels, three families of asylum seekers have remained in the building, after being told they were not eligible.
Although the families’ children are enrolled in the local education system, Bnei Brak officials say the city cannot assist them, maintaining that the decision was not discriminatory. As asylum seekers with no legal status, the families are unable to register with the municipality and instead pay property taxes through their landlord.
The three families told Haaretz they are no longer seeking relocation to a hotel, but are simply asking for the damage to be repaired promptly and for the mistreatment by the city to be acknowledged. “No one sees us,” says Shishay, a father from one of the families.
Shishay was in his room when the missile struck. He did not go down to the building’s shelter, which he says is poorly maintained, cluttered with merchandise from a nearby business that hasn’t been cleared out since the war with Iran began, and with water leaking from damaged pipes.
While his wife and children take cover in the shelter during attacks, Shishay says he would rather “die at home.” He came close to that, sustaining injuries when a window shutter fell on him during the strike.
The family contacted the city’s emergency operations center after the attack. Like other families, and because their name was not listed in the property tax records, Shishay’s wife, Terhas, submitted their rental agreement. The municipality responded that a representative would visit the apartment to assess the damage and advised them to prepare for evacuation, which they did.
According to one of the families, a day after the municipality’s response – six days after the missile struck the building – a city representative visited and said that their evacuation would be taken care of.
“They told us to be ready for evacuation, and the kids were all set. The buses arrived downstairs, but they got there, we got a call telling us not to get on them,” Shishay says.
Terhas, who received the phone call, added, “They told me, ‘There was a mistake, you haven’t paid property taxes.’ But I did pay through the landlord … I’m also registered with the Interior Ministry at this address. My children go to school here. I asked, ‘Why can’t I? Because I’m Black?'”
“It’s hard living here with the kids,” said Eden, another asylum seeker who lives in the buildings. “We have nowhere else to go. The kids don’t want to sleep here. It’s unbearable.” The windows in her apartment were also shattered.
Berhane Negasi, chairman of the “Eritrean New Hope” nonprofit – the official representative body of the community – told Haaretz that because the families lack legal status, they have no way to apply for compensation from the state’s property tax compensation fund. “The state simply ignores them, as if they’re not human beings,” he said.
According to Negasi, the nonprofit is currently assisting 25 families and 45 children who were affected by the war, some of whom have received no state aid. “We’re not able to provide support for everyone,” he said.
According to tracking by the Assaf organization that aids asylum seekers, around 20 cases of asylum-seeker families affected by Iranian missile strikes across the country have been documented, including in the central Israeli cities of Ramat Gan and Bat Yam.
No issues with municipal authorities have been reported in those locations.
Repeated inquiries by Haaretz have led to further contact between the family and city officials, but no practical change has followed.
In a letter to the Bnei Brak municipality, attorney Hilla Erel, public advocacy director at Assaf wrote, “The supposed technical reason – that aid is being withheld due to the absence of the families’ names on the property tax record – cannot be considered a legitimate justification, especially given that the landlord provided written confirmation of their residence, the fact that these families are asylum seekers without legal status through no fault of their own does not justify withholding assistance. On the contrary, it constitutes unlawful discrimination.”
Haaretz’s own inquiries also led to conversations between the family and city officials, but no practical changes have been reported.
In two of the three apartments in the building, a small Israeli flag can be seen inside the home. The parents say their children brought them back from school. “I don’t even feel like I’m part of Israel,” Shishay said, tears in his eyes. “If the state doesn’t help me now, it’s not a state. How can children sleep here like this?” he asked.
According to Shishay, their landlord has shown no concern for the family. “He gets his money and doesn’t ask any questions. He didn’t even call,” he said.
The Bnei Brak municipality said it has evacuated more than 300 families from all sectors, but only after receiving proof they lived in buildings deemed unsafe, such as property tax or Interior Ministry records. “The provision of alternative housing is conditional on presenting minimal proof of residence,” the city said, adding that without official documentation, it cannot offer assistance due to a lack of government authorization.
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