Stories from those with family in Israel and residents in the country as war rages on

UPDATE - ABC-7 spoke with Daniel Hamicha, an El Paso resident of 21 years, who has family members living in Israel.

"It's our place, The Jewish place. We fight for it. Doesn't matter what," said Hamicha.

Hamicha also told ABC-7 that one of his nieces is currently serving in the IDF, near the Gaza border.

Or Ben Ami, an Israeli tour guide who lives near the border with Gaza talked about his wife's fear that the two would never see each other again.

"And my wife at some point said goodbye to me on the phone because she was sure that we were going to they're going to die because the gunfire sounds very, very, very close," he said, but his family was able to reunite.

"I hugged my daughters for like 10 minutes and they just didn't spoke. Usually a very energetic and naughty kids. But in these 10 minutes, no one spoke," said Ben Ami

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Or Ben Ami, an Israeli tour guide, sat down with ABC-7 and spoke about the conditions in Israel, as war with Hamas continues.

Ami was working in the city of Haifa, in the northern region of the country, while his wife and two daughters, were at home in the southern region, just a few miles from the border with Gaza.

"Basically, what happened that many, many, many sirens and explosions started all over the place and we don't have a bomb shelter in our home. So they had to run all the way to a safe bomb shelter and had to stay there for two hours with no electricity," Ami said about his family's immediate journey when the attacks began over the weekend.

Ami said his wife called him to say goodbye, thinking that she and their daughters were going to be killed in the attacks.

Ami says what was normally a two hour drive, turned into a 24 hour trip from the county's northern to southern area.

ABC-7 will be sharing more of the interview on ABC-7 at 5 and ABC-7 at 6.