MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) – It’s been over a week since Operation Epic Fury led to thousands of Americans becoming stranded in the Middle East. Over the past several days, many of them finally made their way home.

Monday morning, another recovery flight from Tel Aviv landed at Miami International Airport.

Residents from South Florida and other parts of the country arrived back on U.S. soil safely after they spent the last several days in and out of bomb shelters.

7News cameras on Sunday captured heartfelt reunions after a recovery flight touched down at MIA.

The travelers said they’re grateful to be back.

“Great. It feels great,” said Daniel Gressel.

“It’s great. I mean, it’s been a long time, so it’s good to be with family,” said Aaron Cohen.

The travelers’ return to the US. comes after they spent the last several days in Israel living through Operation Epic Fury.

“So the first night that the war started, it was probably the only time I had a little bit of fear, because honestly, I’ve never stepped into a bomb shelter before,” said Todd Goldberg. “I mean, growing up in South Florida, we don’t go to bomb shelters, we put hurricane shutters up,”

Many told 7News that they had some concerns, but for the most part felt safe.

“I felt sad that the world was going through this, but I wasn’t worried,” said Mimi Fellig. “I wanted to be a better time, to live in a better world, but not to the point of, of course, when there’s a siren, we go to our bunker, and we do what we have to do.”

During this time of tension, these U.S. citizens have been blown away by the display of unity among the Jewish people as they live through yet another conflict.

“The camaraderie of the Israelis is something we’ve seen. It’s like 9/12 in the United States, if those of you remember that, the day after 9/11, that’s what it feels like there,” said Gressel.

Their arrival in Miami comes as the first recovery flights via EL AL from Israel started Sunday with 23 destinations across the globe.

Currently there are three U.S. destinations: New York, Los Angeles and Miami.

“All of a sudden, Sunday afternoon I get an email, you’re on the flight. I said, ‘What?’ It can’t be,’” said a woman. “They said, ‘If you don’t take it, you have a problem,’ so I had to take it, and I missed my granddaughter’s wedding.”

“Well, Sunday morning, I just looked at my phone, and I see I have a flight in eight hours, so I just packed. It was really that simple,” said Cohen.

While it was simple for some, others said it was a bit more challenging.

“All of a sudden, the flights disappeared from our apps, our EL AL apps, and we realized something’s going on, so, 2 o’clock in the morning, I was on the phone with them,” said a man. “They stayed with me on the phone for about two hours, said, ‘If you guys can go Sunday night, our flight originally was Monday night, if we can go Sunday night, we can get you on,’ and we came to the airport.”

Nonetheless, they were just happy to be home.

“God bless the United States of America, God bless Israel, God bless peace in the world,” said the man who was on Sunday’s flight.

To date, the State Department said, over 32,000 Americans have made it back to the U.S. safely. That number is only expected to grow as more flights continue to arrive.

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