Jewish exchange student, army reservist stuck in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO — A 26-year-old Israeli graduate exchange student's first-ever trip to San Francisco took a dark turn after violence erupted in his homeland.
Yuval Appelboim shared photos of a bomb shelter about 20 miles outside the Gaza Strip, where his sister and his nephews hid for long periods of time.
Their father has been called up to fight with the Israel Defense Forces or IDF.
"My family are in the bomb shelter, no electricity, some of them were locked in the Gaza Strip outskirts just fearing for their lives, having no way to go even to the bathroom," he said. "Not knowing what's happening because there were terrorists outside their houses. I have a friend who was murdered on the way to help innocent civilians. I have an uncle who had a missile that fell on a house next to him."
Appelboim, who is Jewish, said he's a peace activist, and studies the Middle East and Arabic.
He's also a reservist combat officer in the IDF.
"This is an indescribable experience. We can't even start to say what our feelings … We're obviously here. We're stuck here. Our flights back are canceled, and we have to figure out a solution to help our families, help our country to defend itself," he said.
Appelboim joined the pro-Israel rally outside San Francisco City Hall Monday.
"I'm used to the sirens since I was in elementary school. We have had the sirens for 21 years. We have had missile attacks for 21 years; it's not every day. It's not every hour, we live a normal life, like here in the US," he said. "But this is something we've never had before as we have terrorists crossing the border, killing hundreds of civilians."
The death toll on both sides has soared to more than 1,500 with at least 11 Americans among the dead.
Israel has made it clear it wants vengeance. In the coming days, it is expected to launch a ground attack into Gaza.
Ofra Paz, who moved to San Francisco from Israel in 2014, said her relatives live next to the Gaza border.
"They were just rescued last minute by the Israeli Defense Army. They just jumped through their windows after their homes were set on fire," she said.
Appelboim can't help but wonder what his fate would be if he was back home when Hamas launched the surprise attack.
"If I was there on October 7th, I would probably be one of those kidnapped or one of those killed," he said.
This week he was supposed to meet with students from Berkeley and Stanford, but he's now focused on his family's safety and his country's future.
"The fact that I'm here right now, maybe it's to get to know the Jewish community, but I'll do whatever it takes to get as possible back," Appelboim said.