PEMBROKE PARK, Fla – An Israeli-American woman from Miami described what it was like to survive the Hamas attack that killed hundreds of people in Israel on Saturday.
Mayan Derhy, a therapist born in Israel and raised in Miami, said she was in her Tel Aviv apartment with her partner, an Israeli military reservist, when the rocket fire hit Saturday.
“It was the first time in my life that I’ve been through something like that,” Derhy said Sunday during this week in South Florida.
Israelis inspect the rubble of a building a day after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press All Rights Reserved )
The city’s alarm woke them up around 7 a.m. and they quickly rushed to the safe room of their apartment, a room designed to withstand rocket attacks. Derhy said something felt different this time. They turned on the television and the journalists appeared to be in shock.
The city’s alarm went off a few more times. Derhy said they went in and out of the security room and turned the television on and off. They were watching the news outside the security room when they heard, “BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”
A few hours after the attack, she said her partner received a call from his Israeli military commander ordering him to vacate the apartment, leave the city and head north. They rushed to get ready when the “BOOMS!” sequel.
Israelis inspect the rubble of a building a day after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press All Rights Reserved )
“While we were packing, there was another alarm, so we ran to the security room with our bags, just went downstairs and got in the car,” Derhy said.
The couple risked being shot by Hamas militants as they traveled about an hour north along Israel’s Mediterranean coast to the port city of Haifa, about an hour’s drive from where Hezbollah launched a rocket attack.
“I was on high alert,” Derhy said, adding that she cried along the way.
People walk past damage from a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Moti Milrod) (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
On Sunday, Derhy said she was still processing her feelings. She was able to communicate with her family in Miami and was at her grandmother’s home to talk about her experience with Local 10 News because “it’s important.”
Derhy said news of the attack on Nova, an open-air dance music festival disrupted by missiles, also affected him. Eyewitnesses reported that Hamas fighters shot at concertgoers who tried to escape from them. Some were running, others were sitting in their cars.
“That could have been me. “I’ll be at a festival in a few weeks,” Derhy said.
People view the damage from a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Moti Milrod) ***ISRAEL OUT*** (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Israeli emergency services reported that over 260 Nova concert-goers had died. Survivors reported that Hamas fighters took hostages. A disturbing video authenticated by CNN and the Washington Post shows Hamas militants holding Shani Louk, an Israeli-German woman who appeared to be unconscious.
The mounting death toll from the unprecedented raid passed 700 in Israel on Sunday evening – including 44 Israeli soldiers – while Hamas militants claimed to have over 130 hostages in Gaza, where 413 were killed, according to the Associated Press. Derhy said it pained her to know that children were being held hostage.
“This is no longer about Israel,” Derhy said, “this is about being human.”
Related report on Saturday
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