An Arab town in northern Israel paid a heavy price for the ongoing air war between Iran and Israel when a ballistic missile slammed into a home there, killing four people and upending life in the small community.

Hundreds of sobbing residents crowded the narrow streets of Tamra on Tuesday to watch as the wooden coffins adorned with colourful wreaths were carried to the town's cemetery.

To some, the Iranian strike highlighted the unequal protections afforded Israel's Arab minority, while to others, it merely underscored the cruel indifference of war.

Raja Khatib has been left to pick up the pieces from an attack that killed his wife, two of his daughters and a sister in law.

"I wish to myself, if only the missile would have hit me as well. And I would be with them, and I wouldn't be suffering anymore," Khatib told AFP.

"Learn from me: no more victims. Stop the war."

After five days of fighting, at least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds more wounded........

© Al Monitor