Long Branch woman now has hope she can get out of Israel before medicine runs out

Merryl Kolb of Long Branch, who has been stuck in Tel Aviv, Israel, since the recent fighting broke out this past weekend, said Wednesday she secured an airline ticket on Emirates for Dubai for Wednesday night Israeli time.

"I'm leaving. That's if the flight doesn't get canceled," Kolb told the Asbury Park Press early Wednesday morning, at close to 5 p.m. in Israel.

Flight cancellations have made getting out of Israel extremely difficult. What's made it nerve-wracking for Kolb is she said she is running desperately low on medication to treat her ulcerative colitis.

Kolb, 57, who lives on Cottage Place and owns MediSpa by the Shore, is one of many Americans and international travelers frantically trying to leave Israel after Hamas militants crashed through the Gaza border barrier this weekend in an invasion that saw over 1,000 Israelis killed or kidnapped.

Israel declared war on Hamas on Monday, and by Tuesday the Israel Defense Forces said they regained control over the border with the Gaza Strip. Over 700 Palestinians had been killed by return fire as of Tuesday.

Eleven Americans have been killed since the fighting broke out, U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement Monday. Biden also confirmed that there are Americans unaccounted for and the U.S. has reason to believe that Americans are among the roughly 100 people Hamas has taken captive.

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Israel's declaration of war on Hamas prompted multiple airlines to cancel flights in and out of Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel's largest airport, thus stranding Kolb and many others.

"United (Airlines) canceled on me three times. I can get to the airport, but I'll just be sitting on the floor. I need help getting out of here," Kolb said via video chat with the Asbury Park Press from a friend's home in Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning.

She said she had a ticket for Oct. 22, but would run out of her medication Entyvio before that date. However, late Tuesday, after multiple attempts to reach friends, elected leaders back home and the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, a source came through with the earlier flight ticket for Wednesday evening.

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Tel Aviv is about 40 miles north of Gaza, an impoverished Palestinian enclave on the Mediterranean Sea coast under Israeli blockade for 16 years. It is governed today by Hamas, a militant, fundamentalist Islamic organization, which took power in the 2006 elections, the last time elections were held there.

As Kolb spoke, what sounded like an explosion could be heard over the connection from a possible ground-based rocket launched by Hamas. She said bombs are periodically going off in the city, leaving "little smoke clouds," in the air. She also said she hears Israeli fighter jets flying overhead.

Kolb went to Jerusalem to visit a friend and to pray at the Western Wall, an ancient limestone wall in the Old City of Jerusalem that was part of the ancient Temple Mount, the holiest place in Judaism. She arrived Sept. 18, the day after Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. It was her first time back to Israel in 13 years, she said, and it's turned into a nightmare after Hamas' weekend attack.

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U.S. legislators are starting to call on Biden to get Americans home.

“My office is actively communicating with constituents who need assistance leaving Israel, and I’ve called on the Biden administration to evacuate American citizens as soon as possible. We will continue to update constituents as we receive new guidance from the State Department so that Americans can return home safely,” said U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., whose district includes Long Branch.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said in the past 36 hours he has heard from many people who are U.S. citizens currently in Israel, or whose relatives and friends are U.S. citizens currently in Israel, and who seek to return to the United States as soon as possible but are unable to do. He is urging the Biden to consider engaging or facilitating chartered flights to get our citizens home.

“Most airlines have cancelled flights out of Israel, with little information about when they may resume,” Smith said.

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Long Branch woman trapped in Israel as flights canceled by fighting