Lynn Slovin and her husband, Eliot, were still in what they called 鈥渋ntake mode鈥� not long after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
鈥淲e're just we're just hunkering down, trying to be in touch with as many people that are physically, have their lives in Israel," Lynn Slovin said.
The Arlington couple lived in Israel for several years in the 70s and 80s; it鈥檚 where they met and got married and where their first daughter was born. They still have friends there.
Like many others across North Texas with ties to Israel and the Palestinian Territories, they've been watching anxiously as fighting escalates between Hamas and the Israeli army.
Militants killed at least 1,200 Israelis in the initial attack, according to officials. In response, Israel began a deadly siege on the Gaza Strip, there and leaving roughly 2 million civilians effectively trapped without electricity and with limited food and water.
The Slovins first heard of the attacks from the rabbi whose services they watch online most Saturdays. Instead of a sermon, the rabbi delivered the devastating news.
Right away, the Slovins put out calls to loved ones who still live in the country. The responses they received were 鈥渟hocking鈥� and 鈥渉orrific鈥�, they say 鈥� a far cry from the messages they鈥檇 hoped for.鈥�
鈥淲e almost intuitively expected everybody to say, 鈥楴o, we鈥檙e OK, don鈥檛 worry,'" she said. "It鈥檚 a very small country, but it鈥檚 always happening somewhere else in somebody else鈥檚 backyard.鈥�
They learned that Hamas militants killed their friend鈥檚 daughter, Adi Vital-Kaploun, at her home in a , a small Israeli farming community, near the Gaza border. The Jewish Federation of Ottawa confirmed her death Wednesday, .鈥赌�
"It鈥檚 just too close and too painful."
Vital-Kaploun was considered missing for three days, Lynn said. She couldn鈥檛 stop thinking about the woman鈥檚 family during that time.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just too close and too painful," she said. "You can hear the shock in their parents鈥� words, both written and verbal.鈥濃��
There鈥檚 long been conflict in the region, but Eliot Slovin said this feels different.
鈥淭his one hurts. We don鈥檛 know where this is going to end up," he said. "We know that it鈥檚 not going to be quick. It鈥檚 not going to end quickly. It鈥檚 going to be drawn out for a while.鈥濃��
That鈥檚 Nisreen鈥檚 worry too. Nisreen 鈥� 四虎影院 is using just her first name 鈥� is a Palestinian artist who grew up in Lebanon and Kuwait before her family moved here more than 20 years ago.
She says the loss of lives will be costly 鈥� especially in Gaza, a 140-square-mile strip of land that was already experiencing a humanitarian crisis before this current siege.
鈥淚 knew that, you know, the response was going to be of an enormous level," she said. "Nobody gloats or rejoices the loss of human lives whatsoever, of the innocent human lives from both sides. These are the livelihoods of people.
"I don't see a winner in this, I really don鈥檛.鈥�
"I don't see a winner in this, I really don鈥檛."
She remembers when she first heard of the Hamas attack and the Israeli military鈥檚 response in Gaza.
鈥淚 got a phone call from my brother in the middle of the night. He goes, 鈥楾urn on the TV, turn on the TV, it's going down... in Gaza," Nisreen said. "And I'm like, 'What's going on?' He goes, 'Just turn on the TV and see for yourself what's going on.' So I looked at the TV and I said, I know this is not going to end very well.鈥�
Nisreen worries about her friends still in Gaza. She said there鈥檚 a misperception equating all of Gaza with Hamas.
"In Gaza, there are musicians and doctors and theater students, and it's human lives," she said. "I hope that there is hope, light at the end of the tunnel, that they feel like life is worth living because right now all what they're going to be reaping is the trauma that's going to be engraved in the minds of the generations to come, such as children."
For Romi Geller, the first thought when she heard of the attacks in Israel was of her family there.
"We鈥檝e been in constant contact with them since everything started," she said.
Geller鈥檚 family moved to Frisco from Israel when she was five years old. She grew up speaking Hebrew at home and visiting Israel in the summer.鈥�
Everyone is fine for now, but Geller said she鈥檚 worried about their safety. Three of her cousins have been asked to rejoin the military, and her uncle cleaned out his bomb shelter and filled it with necessities.鈥�
The hostage situation feels personal for Geller, who鈥檚 24. She says her cousin was friends with some of the people who were killed.鈥�
"It鈥檚 hard, because I know their life, and I can imagine who they are so deeply and who their families are," she said.
Geller says she鈥檚 leaning on her family during this difficult time. She鈥檚 been making the drive from Dallas to Frisco almost every day. She wasn鈥檛 going to go back the other day, but then her mom was making schnitzel, a Jewish comfort food.鈥�
"I was FaceTiming her and she was making it, and I was like, 'OK, well, I guess I have to come home,' because, like, that's all I want to eat right now."
Meanwhile, in Mesquite, Khalid Hamideh has been keeping up with his family in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, about 50 miles away from Gaza. He said even though they鈥檙e far away, they鈥檙e still concerned about the conflict 鈥� especially as its effects ripple out.
鈥淭hey're living a normal lifestyle there," he said. "But, I mean, everybody is anxious.鈥�
Both of Hamideh鈥檚 parents are from Jerusalem. He's only visited the West Bank twice 鈥� the last time was in 2000.鈥�
"It鈥檚 hard to put up with the military checkpoints," he said.
Many of Hamideh鈥檚 friends in North Texas have reached out to him to ask how his family there is doing. And he said his family鈥檚 neighbors have checked in on them.鈥�
"Even their Jewish friends check in on them to make sure they're OK," he said. "I mean, when you talk about people, the people, the Palestinians, they care about their neighbors that are Jewish or Christian 鈥� But they check up on the Muslims and the Jewish neighbors. And they all care for each other.鈥�"
Hamideh said it鈥檚 the people who matter 鈥� not the politics.鈥赌�
"We care about the Palestinians and the Israelis. They should all have freedom," he said. "They both should enjoy the right to live without oppression and occupation.鈥�"
Toluwani Osibamowo, Megan Cardona, Stella Chavez, Caroline Love contributed to this story.
