A group of American tourists in Israel were compelled to shelter in place when Hamas terrorists launched the country’s largest attack in decades.
According to the group’s travel agent, approximately fifteen Texans waited in their accommodations in Israel for confirmation that they could exit the country safely.
Mejdi Tours, a Florida-based company that specializes in showing Americans various facets of life in a region with a history of religious and political divisions, organized the tour.
According to NBC News, the organization’s co-founders, Aziz Abu Sarah and Scott Cooper, who have Palestinian and Jewish backgrounds, respectively, create tours of Israel and the occupied territories that include a Jewish or Israeli guide and a Palestinian guide with knowledge of their people’s history in the region.
Monday, according to Sarah, the group from Texas was intending to depart by land via Jordan.
“Our tour guides have decided to stay with them,” he reiterated. Clearly, they are devastated. The national climate is one of depression, loss, and despondence.”
Mejdi Tours had approximately 50 U.S. tour passengers in Israel when the Hamas attack began early Saturday morning, but most of them could leave Israel safely via Jordan.
According to Israel’s National Rescue Service, at least 1,100 people have been slain and thousands more injured as a result of the terrorist attack. As Hamas fires rockets into the sky and deploys militants to fight on the ground, it is expected that violence will persist in Israel. Israel has launched retaliatory attacks against Gaza in response to the attacks.
Sarah desires an end to the conflict between Hamas terrorists and Israeli forces, which he claims is fueled by animosity.
“There’s this wall of ignorance, this wall of fear and this wall of hatred that is dividing us,” Sarah declared. “What we want it to accomplish is to create fissures in this society. We are banging our skulls against this wall and insisting that there is an alternative.”
