American in Israel: Desperate looking for a way out

American in Israel: Desperate looking for a way out

Tel Aviv, Israel - Karen and Omri Mamon, dual citizen of the USA and Israel, traveled to Israel last month to take part in the wedding of Omri's sister. You have no idea that you would spend your vacation from one house to another and look for a safe shelter.

surprise attack and evacuated Americans

A week after the wedding, Israel started his surprising attack on Iran, which led to a massive flight operations. Missile flew through the sky, which is why both air spaces were closed. Most flights from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv were deleted, which stranded many travelers and made it impossible to fly home.

shocking experiences

"We went to the protection district three times on the first night, and since then we have been jumping between the houses to find safe rooms. We have been trying to find a way back to Florida since then," said Omri Mamon in an interview with Cnn.

"We have lived in Israel before and had to bring ourselves to safety, but this time it is different. The bombs are bigger, the noises are extremely loud ... You can hear the bombs everywhere," he added.

Message organizes evacuation

dozens of Americans who are trying to leave Israel gathered on Saturday in a hotel in Zentralrael, where the consular officers of the US embassy began to process their departure. US ambassador Mike Huckabee announced on social media that the message organizes evacuation flights and ships for American citizens who want to leave the country. When the evacuation measures begin was not announced.

efforts to return

According to Tammy Bruce, spokeswoman for the US State Department, more than 25,000 people have requested information about the "situation in Israel, in West Bank and in Iran" at the Foreign Ministry. Around 700,000 Americans currently live in Israel, So Huckabee .

Several Americans in the hotel reported CNN that the message had organized flights to Athens, from where they could book further flights to the USA. However, it was unclear when these flights would be set up. The moms were on the list for departure, while others, like Elana Hayman, still had to wait for their processing.

fear and uncertainty

Hayman traveled to Israel for a vacation with her family from Los Angeles in early June. An Iranian rocket attack hit a building right next to the apartment in which they lived in Tel Aviv. Apart from previous earthquakes, Hayman had never felt such strong shocks.

"It was so intense that I thought it had hit our building. It shook us to the mark. ... I actually hear the noise every night. When I think about it, I can hear it again and again," she said.

Her 18-year-old daughter Noa, who suffers from anxiety, reported a scary experience. "It was really bad. I was very scared. I just wanted to find a way out ... ... it's just a creepy time to be here," she said.

The search for away

During the evacuation process slowly progresses, Hayman and many others try to find a way out of Israel. The US embassy announced last week in a security alarm that the land crossings from Israel to Jordan and Egypt were options, but admitted that each of these options brings its own risks. The Jordanian airspace has been closed sporadically since the conflict began, and the United States can offer the American citizens who travel through the Sinai Peninsula to achieve international flights from Sharm El-Heikh in Egypt.

Some of the waiting people in the hotel who wanted to remain anonymous, CNN reported that about 30 Americans were there to be edited, but said they should come back on another day because the priority was the older, sick and families with children. The mums suspect that they were processed faster due to their son's autism situation.

hope and concern

"The main goal was to bring him home; he had our priority. ... he had a really difficult time here with the sirens, the noises, the shelter and the many people who called," said Karen Mamon.

Despite the feeling of relief about the quick processing, Omri Mamon says: "Something could happen at any time. We don't celebrate yet."