Skokie family headed home after being trapped in Israel amid escalating Hamas conflict

CHICAGO - The Israel-Hamas War is showing no signs of slowing down.

With flights canceled to Tel Aviv, thousands became trapped, including a local family.

What started as a vacation for the Stern family from Skokie, Illinois, turned into a nightmare early Saturday morning when they woke up to the sound of sirens blaring and looked out the window to see rocket explosions in the distance.

The family, with their 3-year-old and 5-year-old daughters, was visiting Tel Aviv to introduce the girls to their 101-year-old Great Aunt, who's a survivor of the Holocaust. It was their first chance to do that since the pandemic.

"We came with a bunch of Chicagoans on a full flight on United on September 27th. And we had an amazing trip, and then on Saturday morning and had a bunch of missed calls from my uncle. I called him back. He asked if I knew what was going on. I heard sirens all over. And everything changed," said Leora Stern.

Leora said they could see rocket strikes off in the distance to the South of where they were, and that every day they had fewer and fewer services because many of the hotel staff members, including the chef and the lifeguard to the indoor pool, for example, were leaving to serve on the front lines of the fight.

The Sterns were supposed to leave Tel Aviv for Chicago Tuesday night and were completely unsure when they'd be able to fly out.

But on Wednesday, the family said they were finally able to get a flight back home.

They say it will be a long journey, with a lot of connections, but are headed back to safety.