A young woman whose home was destroyed by an Iranian missile is only alive because she went on a work trip.

Sharona Shnayder, 25, travelled from seeing her sister in South Korea to Tirana, Albania, on the evening of June 13 to attend a peace forum hosted by the Anna Lindh Foundation.

In the early hours of June 15, the building opposite her four-storey complex was hit by an Iranian missile, completely destroying her apartment.

Sharona found out her street had been bombed the day after she landed in the Albanian capital, when neighbours and friends contacted her to tell her what had happened.

It wasn't until she received images and videos that she realised her home had been completely destroyed along with most of her possessions.

Sharona lives on the fourth floor and because there is no bomb shelter under her building, she doesn't think she would have made it out in time.

Sharona, a peace and environmental activist who lives in Bat Yam, Israel, said: "There's no words to describe the feeling when I saw my flat for the first time."

"When we first heard about the missile, I thought we might have some broken glass from our windows."

"I had no idea that pretty much everything I had owned would have been destroyed."

"My neighbour managed to get in and grab some personal photos and documents before the hit, so I'm lucky to still have something."

"It's also scary to think if I had been there I could have easily died."

"We don't have a bomb shelter for our building so we have to use the one next door."

"And considering I live on the fourth floor, the chances of me getting down there in time are pretty slim."

Sharona was raised in Portland, Oregon, but moved to Israel four and a half years ago because she felt unsafe due to growing racism.

She had moved into her flat on Jerusalem 46 street in Bat Yam in October 2024 and was excited to decorate it as her own home.

Sharona said: "I moved to Israel because I increasingly kept coming up against racist behaviour and it made me feel unsafe."

"I'm half Israeli and half Nigerian so I have Israeli dual citizenship which made the move easier."

"Israel then became home to me and it has been the only place where I have felt a sense of community and belonging."

"I was so excited to move into this flat as well!"

"It was the first time that I really wanted to make a space my own and fill it with all the things I love."

"To see it gone is truly heartbreaking."

The buildings along Sharona's street are all set to be demolished as the result of the damage.

Evacuees have been provided spaces to stay in hotels.

But because Sharona isn't in the country, she hasn't been added to the evacuee program.

Sharona said: "I don't know where I can go whenever I return."

"The buildings will be demolished but I don't know where that leaves me."

"I'm currently in Albania and will be travelling to an environmental conference in Uruguay with the UN in the next couple of days but after that I'm at a loss."

"Because I'm not in the country right now, they won't find a place for me to stay."

"I blame the government and the military for a lot of this situation and the support of the civilians affected by the war is no exception."

"They should be there for us now, but they're not."

If you'd like to help Sharona rebuild her life, her PayPal information can be found on her Instagram: @sharonashnayder.