South Florida residents who were on vacation in the Middle East said they are now stuck in Israel due to the lack of flights amid the war with Hamas.
Allison Zur Morag and her husband, Ron Schmid Morag, live in Cooper City with their two children, but at the moment, the entire family is stuck in his hometown of Petach Tikvah, a neighborhood less than 30 minutes from Tel Aviv in Israel.
“We came for vacation here a week ago to celebrate Sukkot, which is actually one of the biggest ways to celebrate,” said Allison Morag. “Sukkot is to be happy. That is like how you celebrate it which has been very hard to do.”
They, like so many others, are trying to get out of Israel to safety but are having trouble finding a flight back to South Florida before early next week.
Allison Morag told Local 10 News that instead of flying back home, she and her family are spending time in bomb shelters, scrambling away from playgrounds as sirens go off and rockets fly overhead.
“You can hear it, and the closer it is, sometimes you can feel it,” she said.
“You feel the walls shake a bit anytime there’s a close interception,” said Ron Morag.
Another South Floridian, Gabe Lugassy, is a student in Jerusalem whose family was visiting Israel this week and were able to get back home. However, Lugassy remains stuck in Israel and is waiting to fly out on Wednesday.
“Especially in these times it’s pretty scary, but it only makes this country stronger. It only unites us,” said Lugassy. “I really did get lucky finding a ticket. They’re putting up flights and in a matter of minutes they’re sold out.”
People are now trying to get home, but until they get a flight, they’re doing what they can to help out by making care packages for soldiers or boxes for needy families.