Chicagoans with connections to Israel and Gaza wait and worry as war continues
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicagoans with family in and connections to both Israel and the Gaza Strip are left with little to do but wait and worry after the Hamas attack.
In Skokie, where the community is united in grief and shock, they offered prayers for peace in the midst of escalating horror.
"The only way to truly overcome darkness is by adding light, adding more light," said Rabbi Dovid Flinkenstein, Chabad of Wilmette Center for Jewish Life and Learning.
Rabbi Rlinkenstein has a son in the Israeli military, and he's not alone in his worry.
"It's constant worry, constant anxiety, fear," said Deanna Othman, who has family in Gaza.
"It breaks my heart. I've never been in fear before living here," said Andrea Newman, who lives in Israel.
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Newman asked ABC7 to blur her face for safety reasons. She's a dual citizen of Israel and the U.S., who was born in Chicago but currently lives in northern Israel.
"I'm fearful for my kids. I sleep with pepper spray. That's all I have. I make sure that my door is locked with a few chairs in front of it," she said.
She said she frequently hears planes flying overhead, and has friends in Jerusalem who have spent the last two days in and out of bomb shelters as Hamas fired thousands of rockets into southern and central Israel.
"There are a lot of Americans here who are trying to figure out how to get out, and the American embassies are blocked. No one can get through to them. People don't know what to do. It's scary," Newman said.
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Meanwhile, as Israeli forces retaliate, civilians in Gaza are faced with their own dangers. Othman is an Oak Park resident who said her in-laws live in a refugee camp just outside of Gaza.
"They are under intense bombing right now. Which is pretty much indiscriminant. So there are buildings that are being leveled with families inside without warning, all in residential areas," she said.
Othman's family traveled to see their relatives in Gaza this summer. She said even under the best circumstances, they have limited electricity and obvious barriers to communication.
"The difficulty of getting in touch with them makes it all the worse. Because you just don't know from one minute to the next what's going to happen," Othman said.
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The issues facing the region are complex and deep-seeded. There has been ongoing conflict between two sides for multiple generations.
"No one wants to live under the constant threat that they or their loved ones may be killed or lose their home, and that's not anything that anyone takes lightly," said Othman.
"This has been going on for decades, and it's just not going to stop," said Newman.
Newman wants to get out of Israel and has an appointment in March at the U.S. Embassy in Israel to renew her family's passports. Othman said the reality for many Palestinians is that travel is not allowed.
