California family returns from Israel, shares their experience
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - A Southern California family's trip to Israel was interrupted by sirens and the threat of violence.
The Levines were forced to seek shelter in a bunker while militants from Hamas carried out deadly attacks on Israeli civilians.
Hearing sirens in Jerusalem was an unexpected part of the Levine family vacation.
While Rachel Levine, her husband David and their five children got back home safely at LAX, they'll never forget the sound that woke them up Saturday morning and sent them all to a shelter.
"So we all have to run to the bunkers. And it was a little scary and dramatic," Rachel described.
"I ran upstairs to check on my family and to find them sitting kind of cowering in a bomb shelter. It was a pretty striking experience," said David added.
Iron Dome protecting Jerusalem
The families sang songs in the shelter to keep the children from being too frightened.
While outside, the Levines say Israel's Iron Dome Defense System was protecting Jerusalem from rockets fired by Hamas. The Levines say the sirens were going off repeatedly for three days.
"There were rockets overhead. We could hear the boom and we could see the impacts of Iron Dome as it was taking down rockets above us," David shared.
"I thought that, 'Are we safe? Are we going to be okay?' But my parents, they kept saying, 'We're okay, we're okay.' So, it made me feel a little bit better," Rachel further detailed.
Making care packages for Israeli troops
When the danger had passed, the family joined others in making care packages for Israeli troops.
One of the children's uncles had been called back to active duty.
The family says they may be home, but their thoughts are with israel.
"We pray for the safety of all our soldiers on the front lines. More importantly, we pray for the hostages, the captives, the citizens, the little girls, the innocent, the innocent women," David spoke.
