Rockets fly, planes grounded: Americans struggle to escape war in Israeli, Palestinian zones

It sounded like fireworks. But it turned out to be the sound of missiles.

Father Dexter Noblefranca is among 44 people whose pilgrimage to Jerusalem - the "Holy Land" - from St. Patrick Catholic Church in Memphis, Tennessee, was cut short by destruction.

On Saturday, the group heard the missiles over the Israeli capital and it triggered a frightening realization, he told The Memphis Commercial Appeal, part of the USA Today Network. 

"I never thought in my life I would see war, but it’s really happening here," Noblefranca said. "Please pray for our safe travel home and the peace here in the Holy Land, especially the innocent people from Israel and Palestine that are dying."

The group left Jerusalem following the violence to a safe location as they awaited their flight home to Memphis on Tuesday.

The struggle to come home – and the fear for loved ones left behind in the deadly war zones of Gaza and Israel – is very real for many Americans as the world watches the violence abroad unfold.

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The U.S. citizens longing to return to America include several people from church groups, including those in Naples, Florida visiting Jerusalem for religious reasons, Salt Lake City-based Palestinian-Americans visiting family members and New Jersey Jewish residents who were celebrating the Simchat Torah holiday.

They told the USA TODAY Network that their trips turned from a tranquil, joyous crusade away from home into a catastrophic nightmare from which they needed to swiftly escape. Some Palestinian Americans told CNN they were abandoned by the US Embassy and told to use the Rafah Crossing into Egypt if conditions were safe.

Now panicked, they are struggling to return to the U.S. as American airlines cancel flights into and out of Tel Aviv and Israel escalates strikes on the Rafah border crossing path between Gaza and Egypt.

What happened?

On the morning of Oct. 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack, launching a barrage of rockets and sending gunmen onto Israeli territory. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli cabinet declared a retaliatory war against Hamas and ordered its military factions in Gaza to undertake take a "complete siege."

Islamic leaders have sent airstrikes into Gaza City, destroyed buildings including a 14-story tower and threatened to cut off essential needs including electricity, access to food and fuel, the news outlet Al Jazeera reported.

More than 1,600 people, including at least 14 Americans, have been killed so far and many others are missing. At least 900 people from Israel and at least 765 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Israel’s Army Radio and the Gaza Health Ministry, CNN and CBS News reported. The tension derives from decades of conflict between Palestine and Israel, which has left tens of thousands of people dead and even more displaced, Al Jazeera reported.

Flights canceled in and out of Tel Aviv; dangerous conditions on Rafah border crossing to Egypt

Delta Airlines, American Airlines and United Airlines have halted flights into and out of Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, joining several other airlines around the world, said representatives from the airlines. American Airlines flights are canceled through Friday, Delta flights are canceled through Oct. 31 and United flights are canceled indefinitely.

"Our hearts are with those who are impacted as our people work to find safe alternatives for customers trying to depart TLV," said Savannah Huddleston, a spokesperson for Delta Airlines, in an email to USA TODAY. "Delta will continue to explore options for customers to safely exit TLV via seats that become available on our partner airlines.”

There is congressional support to help people escape in other ways. In New York, Democratic Congresswomen Grace Meng is "calling on the State Department to help get her constituents out of Israel and back home to Queens."

"While I appreciate the steps the Biden administration is taking to provide additional security assistance to Israel, I urge the State Department to use all resources at its disposal to help those Americans that remain in Israel return to the United States," she wrote in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

In Gaza, the U.S. Embassy is telling U.S. citizens "who wish to leave and can do so safely" to monitor the Rafah Crossing into Egypt. But the escape route they're recommending comes with risk as Israel attacks the border with missiles.

"U.S. citizens are reminded to remain vigilant and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness as security incidents, including mortar and rocket fire, often take place without warning," the U.S. Embassy wrote in an alert on Monday.

The uncertainty has affected Americans who live across the nation.

'Turn worries into worship:' U.S. Church Groups from Memphis to Florida were in Israel at the time of the attack

Another Catholic Church group from Naples, Florida church group awaited their flight home from Israel, members gathered to pray for Jeruselum and visited holy sites. 

"We're going to turn the worries into worship, and we're going to turn fear into faith,” said Rev. Alan Brumback, who is on the trip with his family, said in a Facebook Live update according to The Naples Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Some of the 53 people from the First Baptist Church of Naples who traveled to Israel to visit holy sites flew home before a previously-planned flight scheduled for Thursday, while others who had booked separately had their plans disrupted. The rest remain hopeful they will depart as planned, as many airlines have canceled flights due to the war, Brumback said.

Jewish Americans visiting Israel for Simchat Torah holiday scramble to get home

Mark Schwartz, a councilman and volunteer firefighter in Teaneck, New Jersey, had traveled to Israel with friends for Simchat Torah, a Jewish holiday, with other Jewish people from New Jersey. He was expecting a joyous trip but now is rushing to get home. Flights out of the country were canceled and he and others resorted to booking tickets to Europe on El AI, the Israeli airline, hoping to get a flight home, Schwartz said.

"I got a flight to Bulgaria and will somehow get to New Jersey," Schwartz told NorthJersey.com, part of the USA TODAY Network. “Everyone is in a mournful mood."

In a phone interview with the news outlet on Monday, Schwartz said: "The sirens keep going off, and everyone has to run to a shelter, which is dark and not well stocked because nobody prepared for this.”

Another woman from New Jersey, Dena Levie, told the news outlet that her 20-year-old son was trying to leave the country to start school on time in the US.

"He's at the airport now and a siren just went off and he was told to leave his bags and run for the safe room with hundreds of other people," said Levie.

For Americans being held hostage, the plight is enormous

Hamas is also holding dozens of hostages in Gaza. They include Israeli civilians and military personnel, according to Israel's ambassador to the United Nations. Some Americans are among them, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.

Officials are unsure exactly how many are in hostage situations, said Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor. At least 20 Americans are unaccounted for, he said.

Contributing: Minnah Arshad, John Bacon, Jorge L. Ortiz, Joey Garrison, USA TODAY; Micaela A Watts; Memphis Commercial Appeal; Emma Behrmann, Naples Daily News; Deena Yellin, NorthJersey.com; Associated Press

Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@usatoday.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @kaylajjimenez