In the days after the U.S. and Israel launched joint airstrikes on Iran, killing their supreme leader and starting what could be more than a month of military action in the Middle East, some Los Angeles-area families are struggling to find their way home. 

After the strikes, the U.S. Department of State urged the roughly one million Americans in 14 countries in the Middle East to leave as the fighting intensified, but many are finding that easier said than done. 

Rabbi Yossi Malka, who has two sons in Israel, one of whom is in the army, and the other who is in school, says that they’re among the hundreds of thousands scrambling to get back home. 

“Video with him the other day, in the middle of the conversation, he had to run down to the shelter,” Malka said. He shared videos with CBS LA showing missiles in the air over one of his sons’ dormitories, and another showing him hiding in a bunker with other students. 

With missile strikes now happening throughout the region, and beyond just Iran and Israel, planes across the Middle East have been grounded, with airspace either restricted or closed. 

While speaking with CBS LA, Malka said that his son is tentatively looking to travel to Ukraine, where they will try to fly back to America.

Since Saturday, roughly 19,000 of the 52,000 flights scheduled in and out of the Middle East have been canceled, according to the aviation analytics firm Cirium. 

Patrick Caligiuri, a former television producer from Los Angeles, has been sharing his own experience on social media. He says that he moved to Abu Dhabi six months ago to chase opportunity with his wife and two young children, who joined him two weeks ago. 

Now, they find themselves hiding out in their laundry room, which doubles as a shelter. 

“You do hear outside, you occasionally hear the booms, and you see, you feel, the windows shake and rattle,” Caligiuri said. “That could be unnerving at times.”

Despite that, he said that they feel as safe as they can. 

“For the country that we’re in, and the situation that we’re in, we’re actually feeling very safe,” Caligiuri said. “For what is happening, the defense department here is really handling it. … It’s really about looking out for the best interests of our kids right now.”

He said that he’s called the State Department for further information, but has only received a message saying that he should try to call back during business hours. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently said that the country is now working on securing military and charter planes to bring people home. 

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