EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — The war between Israel and Hamas is impacting people in our region. A current resident of Israel has roots in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
“Crazy amounts of violence. People being beheaded, women are being raped, and we’re seeing all of this,” said Danielle a NEPA native who resides in Israel.
Danielle explained the unimaginable acts of war she’s experiencing firsthand living in Israel following Hamas’ deadly attack over the weekend.
Originally from NEPA, she asked to be identified only by her first name.
Danielle says she heard about the initial attack but she didn’t immediately realize the magnitude of the situation since Israel is no stranger to violent tragedies.
“I saw on the news that there’s men in cars you know driving down residential neighborhoods shooting and I understood that it’s something much more serious and even then I didn’t understand that they have taken over small communities,” Danielle added.
“I saw on the news that there’s men in cars you know driving down residential neighborhoods shooting and I understood that it’s something much more serious and even then I didn’t understand that they have taken over small communities,” Danielle continued.
Hundreds of thousands have fled their homes in Southern Israeli towns after Israel retaliated and declared war against Hamas.
Danielle says many people like herself haven’t left their homes leaving streets, stores, and beaches empty.
“There’s literally not one person in this country who’s not impacted by this. Every single one of us knows someone who died, is held hostage, is missing, or who has to go you know to the army now and fight,” says Danielle.
She says she’s spoken to friends in larger cities who are seeing many recovery efforts in the streets as the war escalates.
Taking the spotlight across social media Danielle says it’s tough seeing the destruction play out online and asks everyone to remember these are human beings experiencing such tragedy.
“You see this level of violence and I couldn’t imagine, I couldn’t prepare myself for anything but empathy because how do you hear of these things and not just you know have your heart break?” said Danielle.
We asked her what’s next for everyone living in Northern Israel.
“Nobody knows how much further it’s going to escalate. What’s going to happen in the next few days or weeks, how long it’s going to be like this? I think we just all have an impending sense of doom that it’s going to get worse and we’re going to see worse things than what we have already seen,” Danielle explained.
Danielle says she hopes her speaking out will help open the minds and hearts of those watching the devastation unfold in Israel.
Sydney Kostus live at 6:30
