INDIANAPOLIS — Maddie Pines, a recent graduate of Butler University, never imagined she'd trade in her dorm room for a bomb shelter.
"In a blink of a second, my worst nightmare came true," Pines said.
She said it wasn't too long ago when the streets of Jerusalem were buzzing with people. Now they are quiet, with only the sound of air raid sirens breaking the silence.
"We are only supposed to be within a minute and a half away from a bomb shelter at any time because in Jerusalem, that is the amount of time we have when the sirens go off to find a safe place," Pines explained.
Video taken in Gaza by Indiana native Mohammad Abuhummos' family shows missiles striking buildings, his family telling him neighboring homes have been reduced to rubble from Israeli air strikes.
"They're all currently holed up in one hallway in hopes that if they have gotten hit by an air strike, they die together," Abuhummos said.
Over the weekend, Abuhummos said two of his cousins died as a result of the war.
"There's not much you can do over here for your family. You just see over the phone, message by message, what they're feeling and it's just like, it's a very surreal experience. You disassociate," Abuhummos said.