MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) – It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Monday morning, another recovery flight from Tel Aviv landed at Miami International Airport.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
7News cameras on Sunday captured heartfelt reunions after a recovery flight touched down at MIA.<\/p>\n
The travelers said they\u2019re grateful to be back.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat. It feels great,\u201d said Daniel Gressel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great. I mean, it\u2019s been a long time, so it\u2019s good to be with family,\u201d said Aaron Cohen.<\/p>\n
The travelers\u2019 return to the US. comes after they spent the last several days in Israel living through Operation Epic Fury.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the first night that the war started, it was probably the only time I had a little bit of fear, because honestly, I\u2019ve never stepped into a bomb shelter before,\u201d said Todd Goldberg. \u201cI mean, growing up in South Florida, we don\u2019t go to bomb shelters, we put hurricane shutters up,\u201d <\/p>\n
Many told 7News that they had some concerns, but for the most part felt safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt sad that the world was going through this, but I wasn\u2019t worried,\u201d said Mimi Fellig. \u201cI wanted to be a better time, to live in a better world, but not to the point of, of course, when there\u2019s a siren, we go to our bunker, and we do what we have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe camaraderie of the Israelis is something we\u2019ve seen. It\u2019s like 9\/12 in the United States, if those of you remember that, the day after 9\/11, that\u2019s what it feels like there,\u201d said Gressel.<\/p>\n
Their arrival in Miami comes as the first recovery flights via EL AL from Israel started Sunday with 23 destinations across the globe.<\/p>\n
Currently there are three U.S. destinations: New York, Los Angeles and Miami.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of a sudden, Sunday afternoon I get an email, you\u2019re on the flight. I said, \u2018What?\u2019 It can\u2019t be,’\u201d said a woman. \u201cThey said, \u2018If you don\u2019t take it, you have a problem,\u2019 so I had to take it, and I missed my granddaughter\u2019s wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, 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,\u201d said Cohen.<\/p>\n
While it was simple for some, others said it was a bit more challenging.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of a sudden, the flights disappeared from our apps, our EL AL apps, and we realized something\u2019s going on, so, 2 o\u2019clock in the morning, I was on the phone with them,\u201d said a man. \u201cThey stayed with me on the phone for about two hours, said, \u2018If you guys can go Sunday night, our flight originally was Monday night, if we can go Sunday night, we can get you on,\u2019 and we came to the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, they were just happy to be home.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod bless the United States of America, God bless Israel, God bless peace in the world,\u201d said the man who was on Sunday\u2019s flight.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n
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