BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — It's a difficult time to be in Israel, but getting out can be just as difficult as the conflict with Hamas intensifies.
Many Americans who were visiting the country for the major Jewish holiday are struggling to get a flight home.
Boynton Beach resident Erica Marino is one of them.
"I was just sitting there in the seat looking out. I was behind the right wing of the plane looking at the Star of David, and I was just thanking God that we got out of there," Marino said.
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It's been a whirlwind 48 hours for Marino. She is regrouping in Marrakesh, Morocco, after scrambling to get out of Israel.
She recalled what the airport was like as she was leaving,
"It was nothing like I've ever seen before," Marino said. "The entire area, when you walk into the airport where the baggage check-in, was totally full."
She landed in Tel Aviv on Oct. 6 for her dream trip to Israel, and not even 24 hours later she found herself in a war zone.
"We had to go into the bomb shelter maybe three or four times," Marino said. "It was just surreal that that was happening to Israel when we were there."
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After hours on hold, she secured a flight to Morocco on an Israeli airline. Even so, she doubted whether she was going to make it out at all, fearing her flight would get canceled or the airport would be bombed.
"It was very scary, but we had to be there, and we had to try to get out because taking that risk was more important than not going to the airport and staying in the hotel and hoping for the best," Marino said.
Marino said she's been on edge ever since she left.
"Any kind of boom I hear, it triggers me. I think it's a bomb," she said. "I was sitting at the pool earlier and a kid screamed and it sounded like an incoming rocket."
She has now secured a connecting flight from Morocco to Paris and then from Paris to JFK International Airport in New York on Saturday.
