Israeli sculptor loses all artwork after airstrike

An Israeli sculptor suffered damage to her artworks after a strike on central Israel on Sunday (March 22), her husband told Reuters.

Debris and remains of the sculptures were scattered around the site of the strike, as resident Yitzchak Givli told Reuters that his wife, Khasia Givli, had lost all her artwork stored in the workshop where they were staying.

"All her life she worked, and all was damaged, all destroyed," Yitzchak said. The Givli couple recounted the moment they heard the sirens and took shelter in the safe room.

"We heard the alarm, went into the Maamad (shelter) and heard a terrible noise...after few minutes when we opened the door we saw fire, lit fire," Khasia said. On site, firefighters doused the smouldering debris and cleared rubble.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran threatened to escalate their war by attacking energy facilities in the Gulf, a potential widening of hostilities which could deepen a regional crisis and add to concerns in global markets.

Air raid sirens sounded across Israel from the early hours of Sunday morning, warning of incoming missiles from Iran, after scores of people were hurt overnight in two separate attacks in the southern Israeli towns of Arad and Dimona.

The Israeli military said on Sunday it was striking Tehran just hours after Iran's attacks on southern Israel. More than 2,000 people have been killed during the war the U.S. and Israel launched on February 28, which has upended markets, spiked fuel costs, fueled global inflation fears and convulsed the postwar Western alliance.

(Production: Rami Amichay, Nuha Sharaf)