Tel Aviv [Israel], June 17 (ANI/TPS): It was just before four o’clock on Friday morning. Like most of the other airplane passengers, Rachel gazed out the window, trying to detect the first signs of light from Israel in the distance. The El Al flight had already begun its descent, and it felt like it would take forever. It had been a long, tiring overnight flight from New York, and after several days of work, all she needed was to see her husband and kids—and get some rest.
At that moment, Rachel recalled, the captain announced that “due to a security situation” in Israel, the plane was not given clearance to land. She would later learn that Israel had launched airstrikes on Iran, declared a state of emergency, and closed its skies. No flights were allowed in or out of Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion International Airport. Even El Al, the national airline, was grounded until further notice.
“Please understand that we don’t know much either,” Rachel, a 30-something-year-old teacher, remembered the captain saying. “But as soon as we know something, we’ll let you know.” The plane climbed again, and the crew began passing through the cabin offering water and reassurance.
“The truth is, we quickly guessed that it had something to do with Iran,” said Rachel. “If it were a Yemeni rocket, we would just circle and come back. It’s a quick process,” she added.
To Rachel’s astonishment, rather than react with fear or anger, passengers immediately began caring for one another. “People held hands, some prayed together, or just helped each other. And it was really beautiful to experience how, in a single moment, an entire plane full of strangers became a family.”
Soon, the plane landed in Larnaca, Cyprus. “We had to wait for a few hours. I can’t tell you how long. Time lost its meaning,” Rachel said. “But the outpouring of help continued. The crew transformed the back of the plane into a play area for the kids and brought out all the toys usually given out. There was no Wi-Fi, and roaming is expensive, yet people were lending their phones to those who didn’t have one or couldn’t use theirs. This American girl opened her phone’s hotspot for like half of the passengers.”
Eventually, passengers were asked to disembark and wait for further updates. Many turned to the local Chabad Jewish outreach centre for help. Rachel described their support as “amazing.” Chabad offered temporary places to stay and opened their kitchens to feed 500 people during the Sabbath, which was only hours away.
Rachel and her fellow passengers are just a fraction of the Israelis stuck abroad. Cypriot authorities confirmed that about 2,500 Israelis are currently stranded on the island—more than 400 kilometres from home.
Now on her fourth day in Cyprus, Rachel is doing everything she can to support others. “People are lovely here,” she told TPS-IL. “Everybody’s very kind, but I can’t be present. It’s like I’m in a split-screen reality.” Walking through the streets, she hears Hebrew everywhere and strikes up conversations with fellow Israelis. “Being here is also an opportunity,” she said, reflecting on how the trauma of October 7 in Israel had taught her to focus on what she can do rather than what she can’t.
“I know my kids are scared, and my husband is tired. But I can’t go back to Israel now. So, I see this as a chance to help others too.”
The people stuck on the island represent a cross-section of Israeli society. “Religious and secular. Jews and Arabs—yes, there are Israeli Arabs here, too. Ultra-Orthodox, and others I would never normally meet in my everyday life. Old and young, women and men. In Israel, we would be worlds apart, whether because of religious differences, political views, or geography. Here, it’s a kind of shared exile,” Rachel explained.
“I was raised to believe we are one people,” she added, noting her parents were Soviet refuseniks. “If Jews around the world hadn’t fought together, my parents wouldn’t have reached Israel—and I wouldn’t be alive today.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s preemptive airstrikes on Iran were launched Friday in response to intelligence suggesting Tehran had reached “a point of no return” in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Israeli defense officials reported that Iran has developed the capability to rapidly enrich uranium and assemble nuclear bombs, with enough fissile material for as many as 15 nuclear devices.
Israeli intelligence also uncovered a covert program aimed at completing all components necessary for a nuclear weapon. The strikes mark a dramatic escalation in what officials described as Iran’s broader strategy—combining nuclear development, missile proliferation, and proxy warfare—with the ultimate goal of Israel’s destruction.
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