Photos of how Bedouins in Israel improvise shelters to survive missile threats

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, the threats of missiles became even more dire during the 12-day war with Iran last month.

“Our bomb shelters are not safe,” says Najah Abo Smhan, a medical translator and single mother from the community of Al-Zarnug. “We’re just doing a lot of praying.”

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This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.