SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The war between Israel and Hamas is forcing airlines to cancel flights, leaving Americans, including some San Diegans stuck in Israel.
"We were actually sleep when the alarms went off and went immediately to the bomb shelter," Patty Kolb said.
Kolb and her husband are currently in Tel Aviv.
The couple, who lives in San Marcos, had traveled to Israel two weeks ago with three friends for a vacation.
But everything changed this past Saturday when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel.
"I'm not scared, but I've never been in a bomb shelter, and today is the first day since Saturday that we've not been in a bomb shelter," she said.
Still, Kolb describes the city as eerie, with the constant sound of sirens putting many people on edge.
"People would stop in the middle of the road, get out of their cars, and lay down," Kolb said.
Kolb and her husband were supposed to fly back to California on Wednesday, but the flight was canceled.
"They [airlines] rescheduled it for Saturday and then they canceled it and said they could not reschedule," Kolb said.
She said she tried travel agents and reaching out to U.S. officials, but nothing worked.
"We haven't gotten any response and that's the thing that's really hard," Kolb said.
Eventually, the couple was able to find a flight to Athens, Greece, on Saturday and will have to take a few more flights to get back to San Diego.
Kolb is hoping for better luck this time around.
The couple is staying at an Airbnb until their flight.
