She lives in Dubai; missiles, emergency alerts, and sleepless nights

Rebecca Anne Proctor has been living in the United Arab Emirates for 17 years. On a Saturday evening she stood on the beach below her home on Dubai's Palm Crescent and watched thick plumes of black smoke rising from the Fairmont Hotel across the water on the trunk of the Palm Jumeirah.

The sight recalled images she had seen from explosions in Beirut and Gaza during her reporting, even as she lives in a beachfront apartment on the East Crescent. An afternoon meant for the beach at a club at the base of the Palm Jumeirah quickly turned into spotting numerous missiles in the sky as they were intercepted by the UAE's defense system.

The US strikes on Iran, which had been anticipated for weeks, had begun and, as many in the Gulf had feared, led to hundreds of missile and drone attacks on Gulf soil.

United Arab Emirates, Dubai

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