MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - Amidst the relentless violence in Israel and Gaza, people arriving at Miami International Airport from Tel Aviv are seeking hope in the face of a seemingly hopeless situation.
“We want peace in the world, we don’t want to fight,” said one passenger, Shlomi Nugassy.
Over the weekend, a barrage of rockets has been exchanged between Israel and Gaza, with Hamas militants launching a surprise attack by air and land. Israel has responded with force, resulting in the reported loss of at least 900 lives in Israel and over 680 in Gaza.
Getting off of a flight from Tel Aviv, one woman spoke out on the matter.
“How devastating and terrifying this all is, when families tell you that they’ve learned their friend died, their son died,” said Liliane Weinstein.
Another passenger described the horror she left behind in Israel.
“We’re talking about families taken into a Gaza strip, women being raped there, women being treated like… we don’t even want to know… it’s better to be dead than to be kept in captive over there,” said Adva Abramovici.
“It’s horrific what’s going on,” said a passenger landing at MIA Monday morning. “We’re talking unbelievable amounts of people innocent people.”
“We don’t know how many people are killed. Every minute the number goes up and up and up,” added another man next to him.
Around 9:30 Monday, dozens of passengers landed at MIA from Tel Aviv, many of them Israeli-Americans who were visiting when the attack began.
“It was a shock; we woke up Saturday morning from an alarm. We thought it was just an alarm, and then they started to come from the sea, from the ground, everything. Attack all over. They killed women, children,” one passenger recounted.
Some passengers awaited word from their loved ones, as Palestinian militant groups claim to be holding over 130 captives.
“I have siblings there, and the situation is really bad,” another passenger shared.
“They had no reason to kill children. It’s a war crime. Raping women in a war is a war crime. Killing innocent children is a war crime. They had no reason to do it. There is no humanity whatsoever,” said another traveler.
One mother learned of her daughter’s kidnapping through social media.
“We got a video from a friend through social media, and we identified our daughter on a pick-up truck in the back lying on the floor with militant men around her and pushing her down and with arms, and they are driving into the Gaza Strip with her,” she recounted.
Israeli-Americans who were visiting the country described their experience when the attack began on Saturday.
“We were staying with our family and we had sirens and we heard bombs falling far away,” said Perry Pirman, another passenger.
“We went into the bunker and there were bombs coming into Israel, buildings were shaking, we have small little kids you know, that were terrified,” another passenger said.
Another man says, he too, saw his family getting taken away by Gaza militants on a cart while they were away on vacation.
“There was no doubt in my mind; I recognize them. Surely my wife, my two daughters, my two little daughters that were on this cart. So I know for sure that they were taken,” he said.
Other passengers are still waiting to hear from loved ones.
“Some of them are still missing, some of them, dead,” said Hadar Hagag.
As the conflict rages on, people are not only asking for prayers but also urging for action.
“I really hope President Biden is going to stand in the right of Israel and support it — full support,” passenger Eyal Anavin emphasized.
“They had no reason to kill children, no reason, it’s a war crime,” he continued. “Raping women in a war, is a war crime, killing innocent children is a war crime, they have no reason to do it. This is no humanity whatsoever.”
Officials in Israel report that tens of thousands of people have left the country in the wake of the conflict, while in Gaza, that number stands at around 123,000, as the violence shows no signs of abating.
“We’re going to evict and do things to try and move people, but remember we are focused, when they were throwing grenades on our ambulances there was no knock on the roof,” said an Israeli official.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to use the military to destroy Hamas, while Palestinian leaders are hoping for a chance at peace if Israel agrees to end the decades-long blockade.
“The only thing they did accomplish was inflicting terrible suffering on an entire civilian population,” a Palestinian leader declared. “This is a time to tell Israel it needs to change course; that there is a path to peace.”
Amid the chaos and devastation, civilians caught in the middle of this crisis are left at a loss for words, struggling to comprehend the brutality they are witnessing.
“I don’t understand how such a brutal thing can happen in the middle of the day. It was a complete surprise. I mean, we got used to the rockets. We live here with rockets. We have a kind of routine. Go in a safe room to take care of ourselves. This was a completely different attack that nobody was prepared for, and nobody can ever be prepared for such a thing like this,” said the mother whose daughter has been kidnapped.
Eleven Americans were reported to have been killed in the attacks.
The situation in the Middle East remains dire, with no immediate resolution in sight, leaving those affected by the violence in a state of distress and uncertainty.
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