While families wait to return to their homes, destroyed in the Iranian missile attack, some have seized an opportunity for quick income amid the devastation.
A Jaffa resident has been collecting aluminum scraps from the wreckage of buildings that were destroyed by Iranian missiles to sell them to turn a profit, he told Walla on Thursday.
There are many families still waiting to return to their homes, destroyed in the Iranian missile attack.
S., a resident of Jaffa, walks through the wreckage, collecting aluminum scraps and selling them to traders, earning thousands of shekels a day. “I look like a laborer, wearing an orange vest, and no one asks questions,” he says.
As the country heals its wounds and evacuees await grants and compensation, some have already moved on to the next stage.
In dozens of streets affected inBat Yam, Rishon Lezion, and Tel Aviv, where houses have been reduced to piles of concrete and dust—S. roams daily, collecting anything made of aluminum: windows, doors, frames. “The money is just lying on the ground,” he says.
The scene where a ballistic missile fired from Iran hit and caused damage in Be’er Sheva, Southern Israel, June 24, 2025. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
“I sell the aluminum for 4.5 shekels per kilogram. On a good day, I earn 2,000 shekels; on a weak day, 500. I finish collecting, traders come, weigh what I’ve gathered, and pay me on the spot. It’s a good, respectable daily wage.”
Legal considerations
When asked about the law, S. explains that he sets clear boundaries for himself. “If I know who it belongs to, I ask. If they don’t give it to me, I move on. But if there’s no address, no tenant, nothing, I take it. Simple as that,” he says.
According to him, he’s not the only one collecting: “Others are doing it too, but what’s annoying is that there are stingy Israelis who prefer to collect on their own and sell it, instead of giving it to me.”
When asked whether he’s referring to residents who’ve experienced the destruction firsthand and are now forced to wander between hotels and absorption centers, S. doesn’t hesitate. “Yes, but so what? They’re covered, they’ll get money from the state or whoever needs to pay them. I found treasure here. Its not a crime—just a good way to make a living.”
