Latest news with #warzone
CBS News
12 hours ago
- Politics
- CBS News
South Florida families concerned for loved ones stuck in Israel due to Mideast conflict
The conflict between Israel and Iran is personal for Rabbi Yossie Harlig. "My daughter is there now and now they've closed down the airports, there's no way of getting out," Harlig said. The rabbi said his 20-year-old daughter Toba Harlig went to study in northern Israel. She has already tried to leave, but hasn't been able to. "She had a flight to come back home and then got canceled and the missiles started raining again," Harlig said. The rabbi said it's typical for Jewish young adults like his daughter to want to learn about their heritage. He said Toba has been in Israel since September 2024 and this is not the only conflict she has seen. "She was woken up many times in the middle of the night having to run to bomb shelters, she had 30 seconds to make it to a bomb shelter," he said. "It definitely was a culture shock at first," Daniella Krasney, a 20-year-old University of Miami student in Israel, said. Living in a war zone has its challenges Krasney is majoring in journalism and after only one month of her internship in Tel Aviv, she witnessed an international conflict. "I am American, I'm not Israeli, I'm not used to this sort of stuff. It's definitely a little nerve wracking and I'm sure anybody living through a war zone can attest. Even before the conflict with Iran, you have a minute and a half to get to bomb shelters," she said. Leaving Israel presents challenges There are no flights in or out of Israel right now. Krasney plans to take a ferry from Tel Aviv to Cyprus on Friday morning. She will then fly to South Florida. As for Harlig, the Grey Bull Rescue Foundation will help her leave Israel over the weekend. "I feel a little bit more comfortable as a dad that these people are former soldiers," Harlig said. "The plan is on Sunday, they are going to take her to the Jordanian border, take her to the airport, get her on a plane to go to Cyprus, then get on another plane to flight to Tampa." Americans stranded in Israel can fill out an emergency evacuation form from Grey Bull Rescue, a Tampa nonprofit that helps rescue citizens in conflict zones.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
US man's biking dream cut short in Iran as he flees Israel-Iran conflict
Ian Andersen was biking through Iran last week when Israel launched strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and the country's military leaders, drawing Tehran's swift response with barrages of missiles. The 32-year-old from Minnetonka, Minnesota, said he did not expect to get caught up in what looked like a real war zone. He fled to neighbouring Azerbaijan on Monday.
Fox News
2 days ago
- Fox News
American cyclist's global adventure derailed when 'bombs started falling' in Iran
A Minnesota man with a dream of cycling across all seven continents was forced to come up with alternative plans after Israel launched a barrage of air strikes on Iran's military leaders and nuclear facilities, close to where he was riding. The Associated Press said 32-year-old Ian Anderson of Minnetonka, Minnesota did not plan to get stuck in a real war zone, so he rode to neighboring Azerbaijan on Monday. "The bombs started falling," Andersen told the wire service on Wednesday, while speaking on Zoom from a hotel in Baku. "It was extremely scary." Andersen was touring through Iran as part of a yearslong mission to ride his bike across all seven continents. While in Iran, Andersen had a local guide, and he had shared videos of his adventure with tens of thousands of followers on social media, since the beginning of June. "The day the bombs started falling" was Friday, and Andersen and his guide were heading south along the Caspian Sea coast, from Chalus toward the capital of Tehran. Andersen had reportedly hoped to apply for a visa to Afghanistan in Tehran, with ambitions of crossing into Central Asia and onto Russia. "It was really just, like, the worst timing possible," he told the AP. Once the bombs started falling, Andersen and his guide sheltered in place and spoke Spanish to avoid people suspecting he was from the U.S. He also said he saw long lines of vehicles fleeing Tehran, and at the same time, his own family, friends and social media followers had concerns for his safety. The U.S. State Department notified Andersen in an email that he should leave for Azerbaijan or Turkey. A friend of Andersen's in Los Angeles applied for a visa to Azerbaijan on his behalf, which was ultimately granted by the U.S. Embassy in Baku. Biking, Andersen said, was his dream and escape, and in the past, he had struggled with addiction and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. And while his dream of cycling the seven continents may have hit a speed bump, he has no regrets from going on the journey. The bombs in Iran were not his only brush with death. In fact, he said he was in northern Kenya in 2023 when a tribesman threatened to chuck a spear at him while biking through a rural area. "There's always going to be risk, and you have to accept it," he said. Now that he is out of Iran, Andersen said he is planning to ferry across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan, then head east into Uzbekistan. But from there, Andersen said he does not know where to go.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
‘She should be taking her mock exams': Father's desperate plea to bring home daughter, 15, stranded in Israel
Fifteen-year-old Bella Baker should be in a classroom in Leeds, beginning her GCSE mock exams. Instead, she is facing the horror of the Israel-Iran conflict. as she remains stranded in a hotel in the northern Israeli port of Haifa, where on Monday, 30 people were injured in a dawn missile attack on the city. With her mother, the pair are among the dozens of British nationals who are unable to return home from Israel after authorities closed the country's airspace for landings and takeoffs due to an escalation in the war. The pair had travelled to Israel for a family member's Bar Mitzvah, a coming-of-age ritual in Judaism, last Tuesday - but plans to come home on Sunday changed after Israel's surprise attack on Friday. The assault resulted in a weekend of escalating attacks between the two countries. And on Monday morning, Iran fired a new wave of missiles on Tel Aviv and Haifa, killing eight people. Now Bella and her mother are living in a war zone in Haifa, and unable to get a flight or boat home, said Bella's father, Leslie Baker. In an email sent to Leeds North East MP Fabien Hamilton, which has been seen by The Independent, the technology consultant said: 'My daughter is now getting used to a new normal, sirens sounding and told to head to bomb shelters at 3am, then told to stay near a shelter at all times. 'Beaches and business areas are closed and she describes it as being 'back in Covid' staying in one room awaiting the next siren. If she stays much longer then she'll be learning how to put on a gas mask should the need arise just as every other child in Israel has. 'She should not be there. She should not be in a war zone. Bella should be here starting her mocks with the rest of her year group.' Mr Baker told The Independent he was in contact with his daughter over WhatsApp and used an app to receive notifications for rocket alerts. To provide a home comfort to her, he streamed reality show Love Island over the phone to her while she sat in her hotel's bomb shelter on Sunday night. Bella and her mother are staying in a hotel close to a relative's home, where they are receiving food supplies. Mr Baker, who is also concerned that Bella will run out of medication she takes in just over week, said: 'She is scared. She's never been in this situation before and she's young. She wants to come home, see her friends and go back to school.' The Foreign Office has updated its guidance to advise against all travel to Israel, warning that the situation could "deteriorate further, quickly and without warning". British nationals in Israel are urged to follow advice of local authorities. But with the airspace closed and no sign yet of the UK government providing repatriation flights, some British nationals are considering taking land crossings, such as in to Egypt, to escape the war. However, Mr Baker said crossing borders into neighbouring countries for his daughter carried a 'significant dangerous risk'. He has called on the UK government to provide flights to bring those stranded, including his ex-partner and daughter, home. He said: 'The UK government has to do something, it can't just sit and do nothing. There should be boats put on to get people to Cyprus. In the current situation, you can't just leave British nationals, who are feeling scared, in the country with no support or way out.' Others are also calling for flights to be put on by the UK government. Comedian Zach Margolin, 31, from north London, was in Tel Aviv for his birthday when the conflict escalated. He told The Times: 'Ideally the UK government should be putting on a repatriation flight,' Margolin said. 'The only update [from the Foreign Office] is don't go to Israel.' Grandfather James Eden, 72, from Newcastle, was in Jerusalem for a six-day Christian pilgrimage. He told PA: "They (the Foreign and Commonwealth Office) rang me and said there wasn't a lot they could do. They can't put on any planes because the airspace is shut - all they can do is send out alerts and keep track of us." Mr Eden is now considering travelling across the land border into Egypt. Foreign Secretary David Lammy posted on X: "My message to British nationals there is clear - your safety remains our top priority." A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: 'The FCDO advises against all travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. British nationals should continue to follow the advice of local authorities.'
The National
12-06-2025
- Health
- The National
Gaza's last major hospital faces imminent shutdown as fuel runs out
In the heart of war-torn Gaza, Al Shifa Hospital stands alone. It had been one of many medical centres providing treatment and hope during Israel's devastating bombardment of the enclave, but Kamal Adwan Hospital, the Indonesian Hospital and Al Awda Hospital have all been forced out of service. Al Shifa is now the last fully operating major hospital in Gaza. But the burden of treating the injured could soon become too much. 'We are performing the work of all the hospitals that have collapsed,' Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Al Shifa in Gaza city, told The National. 'Our hospital was built to accommodate 140 beds. Today, we are treating over 350 patients. Most of them are lying in the corridors, in the courtyards, wherever there's floor space.' The surge in patients intensifies the pressure on a healthcare system on the brink. Inside Al Shifa, rooms meant for five patients now house more than 10. Emergency wards are overflowing. Every day, new patients, many injured in shootings near aid distribution sites, arrive in waves that overwhelm exhausted staff. But it is not only space that is running out. Medication and surgical supplies are vanishing too. 'For more than three months, not a single pill has entered Gaza,' Dr Abu Salmiya said. 'We are out of everything, drugs for surgery, painkillers, antibiotics, emergency medicine. We are treating patients without the tools we need. It is an impossible situation.' The hospital now faces most serious shortage of all. "The fuel we have can only last for a few more days,' he added. 'Yesterday, we received a small delivery, barely enough for three days. "We have appealed to the World Health Organisation, to UNDP [UN Development Programme], to anyone who can hear us. Without fuel, we will lose everyone.' The hospital desperately needs fuel to produce electricity. Without it, its generators will stop, killing patients. 'If the generators go silent, the 13 ICU patients on ventilators will die," Dr Abu Salmiya said. "Eighteen premature babies in incubators will die. The lab will shut down. And 350 kidney dialysis patients will have their treatment stopped. Their lives will be in immediate danger.' The hospital will also be forced to suspend surgical services. 'A hospital without power isn't a hospital,' he added. Across the enclave, humanitarian supplies including food and medicine are trickling in, while the healthcare system gasps for breath. But patients continue to seek help at Al Shifa. 'We're watching people die not from wounds, but from the failure of the system around them,' Dr Abu Salmiya said. 'It is no longer just war, it is the collapse of life itself.'
