(WXYZ) — Lisa Alarayshi is sharing the pain of what her family has been through in the two years since the Israel-Hamas War began. Tuesday marked two years since the war began.
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“Family house is gone. Everything they had is gone," Alarayshi said.
"Has your husband lost loved ones?" I asked.
"Yes. He’s lost an aunt. Few cousins. People he went to school with," she said.
I first talked with Alarayshi after fighting began between Israel and Hamas in the wake of a Hamas attack on a music festival in Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage.
Alarayshi's husband's parents, who were visiting, had been trapped for a period in Gaza, soon after the borders were closed.
“His parents were actually on a trip to see family when the war started. They got trapped there for a period of time," Alarayshi said.
She said her brother-in-law is still living in Gaza, where she said food, water and electricity remain scare as part of a humanitarian crisis, with more than 67,000 Palestinians killed.
“I have a lot of concerns it will continue until there is no such thing as a Gaza Strip anymore," Alarayshi said.
She said her family has also lost loved ones as the bombing continues to cause damage amid peace talks that are still ongoing.
“We have our DNA being a holocaust survivor family, and the first few days was, should I get out of here, should I get the children out of here?” Sue Curhan said.
Curhan's daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren all live in Tel-Aviv.
“Waking up in the middle of the night is constant. Every week, there’s been Houthi firing missiles and sirens wake them up. They have to go down into the bomb shelter," Curhan said. “Our hearts cry out for anyone killed. Palestinians and Gazans. Innocents.”
Sue tells me she, too, prays for an end to the war and lives to be saved. She said her family has personally experienced a dramatic change in day-to-day living, and said she's also not giving up on the return of additional hostages held by Hamas.
Both Sue and Lisa talked to me about the tension they feel each day for family members in Gaza and Israel. Both say they are not giving up on an end to fighting and a need for peace.
