TEL AVIV, Israel — Sheri Grad is an American-Israeli citizen born in Memphis, Tennessee and currently living in Petah Tikva, Israel. Petah Tikva is just outside of Tel Aviv, a major city in the region.
Grad has alarms going off on her cell phone telling her where sirens are ringing across the country and how long she and her family have to take shelter, whether that’s minutes or seconds.
“This [siren] happened where I used to live in the North, where my family home is, where my ex-husband and my kids stay. It says they have one minute to get to a shelter,” Grad said.
This is all a new reality for the Memphis native. Grad moved to Israel just before having kids. Now, 20 years later, hearing from one of her kids is the best part of her day.
“My son is 20 in the Air Force,” Grad said. “He’s been stationed outside of Gaza since Saturday. It’s the last time I saw him. Once a day, I get a thumbs up, so I know he’s alive every day.”
ABC24’s Zaria Oates asked, "What are some of the things you’ve been seeing or maybe hearing about since this all started?"
“Okay, so you send your kid off to a party to dance and drink a little alcohol, and the next thing you know, they’ve been raped or tortured, mutilated, shot to death,” Grad said as she recalled the music festival that was attacked. “One of my friends was on the phone with his daughter as she was dying. It’s just, sorry, it’s tough,” Grad said through tears.
Tears are almost a routine since war was declared just days ago, killing thousands in Israel and Palestine, with no clear end in sight.
Just hours after the interview with Grad ended, she said fighting has gotten worse in the North region. The North is where many people traveled to get away from missiles in the South.
While Grad plans to stay in Israel as long as her kids are there, she said leaving the country is a possibility in the future.
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