British charity volunteer’s struggle to escape Israel: ‘We’re living in a nightmare’

A 69-year-old British charity volunteer said she and her 80-year-old friend have been “living in a nightmare” while trying to get out of Israel amid all the violence.

Marilyn, a former healthcare assistant from Hertfordshire, had travelled to the Middle Eastern country with Helen, from London, on October 2 and enjoyed a week’s holiday in the northern region of Galilee.

They were then supposed to head south to work with Shevet Achim – a Christian organisation which helps children from Gaza, Iraq and Syria get to Israel for open-heart surgeries.

But everything changed on Saturday, when Hamas militants attacked parts of Israel, the military responded with fierce airstrikes on Gaza and the region was thrown into the worst war its seen in 50 years.

Marilyn told The Evening Standard how “frightening” it was as she and Helen realised they could not safely go to the charity’s base in Ashdod, just 20 miles from the Gaza border.

They started trying to book flights back to the UK, but nothing was available.

“I feel guilty saying even this when I know that people are going through so much more, but I’ve never been so stressed in my whole life than I have been in the last few days,” Marilyn said.

“I’m worried about our medication – that it’s going to run out,” she continued, “my friend is over 80, we’re vulnerable.”

She and Helen ended up going to stay with a friend in Jerusalem, where Marilyn found it impossible to sleep because she could constantly hear planes.

The group had to hide out in a bomb shelter at one stage.

Marilyn said: “I’ve never in my years heard a siren before and it was awful. I can’t tell you how much that traumatised me, I heard two bombs go off.

“And my friend’s 10-year-old son heard everything too and I just felt so sorry for him.”

After two days in Jerusalem, Marilyn and Helen decided to head to Tel Aviv so they could be closer to the airport.

But, like many other Brits, Marilyn had a “nightmare” trying to find an available flight out of Isreal. She even went to the airport herself, but was told she could only book trips online.

The pair were finally able to find seats on a plane leaving on Tuesday, but this was cancelled the night before.

“We had packed everything,” Marilyn said, “and we were all quite excited to go home to family and that really shook us up, my friend got really down.”

The women are now hoping to fly home on Sunday, but Marilyn is still “anxious with everything so up in the air”.

Several Brits have complained about having to fork out thousands to leave Israel, with several accusing the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) of failing to repatriate them five days into the bloody conflict.

Several nations, including Bulgaria, Spain, Poland and Thailand, have organised evacuation flights for their citizens but the UK has not yet taken similar steps.

On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told LBC Radio that ministers were “working with” the travel industry to make sure commercial flights remained available to Brits in Israel.

The FCDO said: “The UK government has a duty and a responsibility to support British nationals overseas. The situation here is a bit different because a lot of the Brits are dual nationals and regard Israel as their home.

“We will work closely with the Israeli government to provide support, if needed. We are working with the aviation industry and on border crossings. We are also in talks with Egypt on any Britons in Gaza.”

Israel’s ministry of tourism said it is “committed to ensuring that all tourists visiting Israel are safe and informed” - it is operating a WhatsApp hotline for tourists on +972 55 972 6931.