'This might be the end': St. Johns family escapes Israel, but not those they were visiting

Amir and Brianna, whose last names are not being used for privacy, were in central Israel with their baby and toddler when Hamas attacked without warning. They woke up to sirens blaring.“I didn't really understand what was going on. So, I relied on my husband to fill me in,” Brianna said.

Amir grew up in Israel and is an Israeli military veteran. They were there visiting family.

“We just went into this interior room, and it was just all about staying safe, keeping our girls safe,” Brianna said.That night, as the reality of what was happening became clearer, they decided to drive to a relative's house who has a bomb shelter.

“We were on the highway, and we had to stop twice and get off the side of the road under a bridge, get the babies out of the car, duck between the car and the guardrail,” Brianna said. “And at that moment, I really thought maybe, you know, this might be the end.”

They made it to the bomb shelter where they waited for word about the rest of their family. The next day they got devastating news.

“This is our cousin, Tamar, and their three children and husband and who were murdered the day of the attacks,” she said, pointing to a picture of her family.

“It’s still hard to process,” Amir said.

“The towns that were infiltrated on Saturday, we were there two days prior,” Brianna said.

Their flight home that was planned for the day after the attack was canceled.

“We kept trying to rebook it, but every flight kept getting canceled from American carriers,” Brianna said. “So we started scrambling, working through friends and government agencies and a travel agent in Israel. And eventually the travel agent got us a flight out through Europe.”

Grateful their children are home safe, they are heartbroken for those who are still there and suffering.

“We do feel like it's important to point out that Hamas are terrorists and what they did to those people, what they did to the Israelis, are complete atrocities,” Brianna said. “And those families and victims deserve to have their stories told and to know what happened.”

This story first appeared on Times-Union news partner First Coast News.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: St. Johns County family escapes Hamas attacks in Israel