TEL AVIV, Israel (WSVN) — As they continue to see different parts of Israel to mark the 70th anniversary of its foundation, hundreds of South Floridians visited the border with Gaza and got a firsthand look at the ongoing tensions in the area.

7News cameras captured the travelers as they walked around a small village in the south of Israel, Tuesday. It has been the target of thousands of rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, which is a few hundred feet away.

Children at a day care facility played feet away from a bomb shelter painted in vibrant colors to soften the harsh reality that attacks can come at any time.

Barbed wire fence lines an entire area of the Gaza wall in Israeli territory. Just feet away is a small shelter where residents can hide if a rocket comes. In the event of that happening, a siren will sound, giving people about 15 seconds to hide.

The people traveling with the Greater Miami Jewish Federation marveled at the proximity between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

“You see the last house over there? It’s about 300 feet from the border,” said village resident Ziv Vogel.

“It’s very hard to see exactly how they live,” said Dr. Ariel Zissman, who traveled to Israel as part of this Jewish Federation group. “We know about it, and we hear about it in the news, but [it’s different] to experience it this close.”

There are concerns that violence may spark again when the U.S. embassy moves from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in April.

Past U.S. presidents had considered moving the embassy on prior occasions, but it did not happen due to concerns that it would affect the peace process.

The move comes amid weekly demonstrations on the Gazan border.

“All the burning of tires, all the people who want to come to the fence and cross the fence,” said Vogel.

Hamas, the governing party of Gaza, says Israeli soldiers have killed more than 30 Palestinians and wounded thousands since March 30.

7News spoke with Itamar Rabinovich, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. in the 1990s. He said the situation poses a challenge for Israeli leaders.

“They now send people, unarmed civilians to the fence, to protest, to be wounded and killed, in order to embarrass us,” said Rabinovich. “That’s a challenge.”

Israel is a state that faces so many challenges, but its strength lies in its unity.

The country stops on Tuesday for Memorial Day, as residents remember the soldiers who have been lost in battle. A siren blares throughout the entire nation.

Tuesday night, South Floridians came to a packed amphitheater for a somber ceremony, as a flame of tragedy and hope burned together.

The reason why Independence Day and Memorial Day are celebrated so closely together is that in Israel, the pain and the conflict of life is very closely connected to the hope and the joy of independence.

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