CBN Israel’s Front-Line Mission

The screen of a cell phone lights up, not with a text or a call, but with a piercing series of missile alerts—a digital warning that has become the background rhythm of life in Israel. For Roberto Torres-Cedillo of CBN Israel, the transition from journalist to civilian seeking cover happens in a heartbeat. Standing on the side of a highway, the reality of the conflict is immediate and unyielding.

“I am here in Israel, and this is the reality that Israelis are facing on a daily basis," Torres-Cedillo explains. "We just had to pull to the side of the road because we got an alert on our phones as we were driving to Beit Shemesh; a ballistic missile was incoming. So, as you can see behind me, people are trying to take refuge wherever they can. We got about a one minute and 30 seconds to go to a shelter, but if you’re caught here on the side of the road, this is the reality”.

As the day progresses, the tension does not lift; it only moves to a different location. Later that afternoon, Torres-Cedillo finds himself at the site of a tragedy in Beit Shemesh—a synagogue recently struck by an Iranian ballistic missile that claimed nine lives. Even while documenting the aftermath of one strike, the threat of the next remains ever-present.

“I was outside near the site where an Iranian ballistic missile hit in Beit Shemesh—the synagogue that took the lives of nine people—and we got the siren while we were outside," he reports from the confines of a bomb shelter. "We have to come down to the bomb shelter; all of us are hiding here. We have to stay put and wait for the siren to let us know that it's safe to go back upstairs. You may be driving in the middle of a road and have to pull over, or you are outside and you gotta go find, rush to find a shelter”.

Despite the constant interruptions and the visceral danger of an active war zone, the mission remains focused on the human cost and the relief efforts required to meet it. “I want to ask you to keep supporting the work of CBN Israel here on the ground as we assess the situation and provide critical help to those in need," Torres-Cedillo concludes. "Thank you for standing with CBN Israel. Thank you for standing with Israel in this critical time”.