As the war continues in the Middle East, some Utahns in Israel say they’ve been in and out of shelters for their safety since Saturday.
Just an hour South of Tel Aviv, Terry Silva and her family await the sound of the next alarm. In a video she shared with us, they’re running from their apartment down to the bottom floor, where there is a shelter.
“There was a direct hit in our town, and you could feel it shake the shelter,” Silva said. "Usually can hear some booms, but I’ve never felt it like that.”
Silva said they’ve received around five notifications a day to take shelter. They only have a short amount of time to get to their safe spot before it is closed.
“We always have our shoes lined up at the door. We have a go bag, and we’ve had that bag since January when we thought that something might happen,” Silva added.
This isn’t the first time her family has been through a similar situation. The Silvas first lived in Israel from 2021 to 2024 before coming back to live in South Jordan, Utah, for more than a year.
“Having dealt with it before, I feel more confident with what to do — how to deal with the shelter, what to prepare, what those sounds will be like,” Silva said.
In Utah, Daniel Rona is in between trips with Israel Revealed, the only LDS-licensed tour guides in Israel. One of his tour groups had just left the country a few days ago.
“We’re really blessed in Israel for all different reasons; it’s the Holy Land. We have land connections to Jordan. That’s like going to Tooele,” Rona said. “We have a land connection to Egypt, so leaving Israel is not confusing. It takes a little arranging, but we live there and have a staff there.”
Rona also has family in Israel and said they're safe. He said there aren’t many tourists there right now, but in his 50 years of tours, he has never had any issues.
“The last time we had a situation, every person made their tour and got out and were safe,” Rona said.
People across the Middle East are keeping a close eye on the events, and some are finding a new sense of community amidst it all.
“There’s people of many different beliefs, many different faiths, but you know, there are many praying with their kids and it’s a really beautiful thing to see people turning to their faith to stay calm in a time that’s really scary,” Silva said.
As this conflict continues, people like Silva aren’t dwelling on the darkness of their shelter but instead feeling hopeful that there is light within it.
