USA TODAY reporter reports on dangerous conditions on the ground in Israel
USA TODAY reporter Kim Hjelmgaard discussed the situation on the ground in Israel and how Israelis are coping after the Hamas attack.
Families caught up in the conflict between Israel and Hamas streamed into American airports on Friday and Saturday after days of no flights.
As the war quickly unfolded, major American airlines canceled flights to and from Ben Gurion in Tel Aviv, Israel’s only international airport, making it difficult for Americans in Israel to return home as the number of U.S. citizens confirmed dead in the conflict increased rose to 29, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry on Saturday.
On a rainy Saturday afternoon, families on whirlwind journeys from Israel arrived at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport after stops in Athens, Madrid, Rome and other European hubs. Many boarded flights on the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest, including some whose religious practices normally prohibited such travel.
On Saturday, a 37-year-old husband who called himself David waited for his wife and child in the arrivals area of JFK Terminal 4. His wife, Ruth, 37, and their three-year-old daughter came through the sliding glass doors with a cart full of suitcases and their daughter’s small, colorful scooter. Out of concern for their family’s safety, the Manhattan couple declined to give their last name or their daughter’s name.
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When David saw her go through the sliding doors, he ran past the metal railing, picked up his daughter, hugged and kissed her, and spun her around. Ruth wiped away tears as her daughter laughed and smiled upon seeing her father again after a month’s absence.
The Manhattan family was among many who began reuniting in the days after the Biden administration announced charter flights from Israel to European destinations so they could book connecting flights home. Delta announced it would add three additional flights from Israel for U.S. residents, traveling from Athens to JFK, arriving at 4:45 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
“The United States has no higher priority than the safety of its citizens abroad,” Stephanie Hallett, the interim chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Israel, said in a statement preset address on Friday as flights began from the region. “Every American citizen who needs the embassy’s help will get it.”
Hide tears from children
The couple, reunited at JFK, said they still hoped to move to Israel before the New Year. David and Ruth were both born there; Your child was born in the USA
A week had passed since the Hamas attacks began. That Saturday, Ruth and her daughter were at her mother’s home in Eilat, Israel’s southernmost city, just a short drive from the Egyptian border. Friends of Ruth died in that raid, and she had spoken to a cousin while he hid in a bomb shelter near Gaza for more than 12 hours to hide from militants who had laid siege to the city.
Split: Children feel the violence of Israel’s Hamas war. What parents should do.
Ruth spent the week escaping and calling airlines. On Tuesday, an agent got them a flight the next day to Madrid via Tel Aviv. Flights that she said cost up to $9,000.
They spent a few days in Madrid, a country Ruth had never visited. She didn’t speak the language and cared for her daughter while trying to deal with the tragedy that left her behind.
“I had to take care of her and everything was completely crazy,” she said. “I wanted to go to the bathroom to cry so she wouldn’t see me.”
The family has tickets to return to Israel in 10 days. Ruth said she is optimistic that conditions could improve, but she wants the fighting to stop.
“We don’t want anyone to get hurt, not them, not us,” she said. “Have peace. That’s what I feel.”
Bombs from the hotel room
Jeff Eliah of Florida recalled details of his long, treacherous journey to the United States at Newark International Airport on Friday. He and his wife had been to Israel for a wedding. They were in the city of Jaffa when they heard the sound of a bomb and were advised not to leave their hotel room.
He said his complex flight route took him from Tel Aviv to Cyprus, then to Athens and finally to Newark.
“It was crazy. But we were very lucky,” said Eliah. “We got the first flight to Cyprus.” A few other flights were canceled.”
Despite these extensive efforts to get to safety, he was still not home. His next destination was Florida, where he hoped to find refuge.
Americans fleeing are urged to contact the U.S. Embassy
While officials encouraged Americans in Israel and the West Bank online, Hallett of the U.S. Embassy in Israel acknowledged the challenges facing Americans in Gaza, which remains under a blockade, bombings and a threatened siege by the Israeli military . She encouraged Americans in Gaza to contact the American Embassy in Israel online. Much of Gaza remains without electricity, which could make this request difficult.
Americans on return flights from Athens and Frankfurt arrived from Israel as the State Department issued another travel warning on Saturday, again urging Americans to “reconsider” travel to Israel and the West Bank due to terrorism and unrest. US officials reiterated advice not to travel to Gaza due to terrorism, unrest and armed conflict.
Waiting is also tiring, some in the JFK terminal said. On Saturday afternoon, Dave Moore of Larchmont, New York, was waiting on a flight from Rome for his longtime wife to return from Israel. The couple wore similar circular glasses with black metal rims. She didn’t say a word, just sobbed quietly as Moore hugged her.
Manahil Ahmad of The Bergen Record contributed to this story.
Eduardo Cuevas covers health and breaking news for USA TODAY. He can be reached at [email protected].