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Iran attack: Arizonans in Israel sheltered
We have learned that 26 Arizonans are spending the night in an undisclosed location, thanks to the U.S. State Department. The group from Surprise was in Israel when the attack on Iran began, and FOX 10's Steve Nielsen has more.
PHOENIX - 26 Arizonans are currently in an undisclosed location, thanks to the U.S. State Department.
The church group from Surprise was in Israel when the attack on Iran began, and they shared their experience as bombs started exploding in the sky.
The backstory:
The U.S.-Israel attack on Iran happened over the weekend. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed when his compound was bombed on Feb. 28. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that Iran’s ballistic missile sites, navy headquarters and warships were also attacked.
President Trump spoke publicly on the morning of March 2 for the first time since the massive weekend attack on Iran, saying the operations were likely to last 4 to 5 weeks but that he was prepared "to go far longer than that."
The conflict has intensified into a wider war in the region. Iran and its allied armed groups have launched missiles at Israel, Arab states and U.S. military targets in the Middle East.
Local perspective:
Pastors Patrick Marks and Steve Long at Calvary Church 14:6 in Surprise took 24 Arizonans for a tour.
"When you're in Capernaum, and you're literally standing on the place that was Jesus's headquarters for years, it's emotional. It's very impactful," said Pastor Marks.
While on the shores of Galilee, war in Iran broke out. They quickly made a Facebook video to calm everyone at home.
"Here where we are, there's nothing to stress about," they said in the video, noting the sounds in the background. "You can hear them popping off."
"Within an hour it was first... air raid sirens going off," Pastor Long added.
"You could seriously hear the impact of the Iron Dome making impact with the missile. It was seriously loud. It rattled the building, shook the windows... and we had three or four different air raids during that whole morning," Pastor Marks said.
They recorded some of the moments in the sky.
The pastors and 24 Arizonans needed new plans to get out of the country. The U.S. State Department helped their travel agents and took them to an undisclosed location.
"We had a couple of times where we had to stop because of the air raids and things like that, and we had one go off, it was so loud we all ducked for cover. It was right next to us where it impacted. It was quite interesting," Pastor Marks said.
Despite the experience, this won't stop them from coming back.
"War or no war, we're going to keep coming. We're going to keep bringing groups here because the authenticity matters so much," Marks said.
What's next:
It's still unclear when they'll be able to get back home here to Surprise, Arizona, but both say they, along with the other 24 Arizonans, are completely safe and out of the country.
The Source: Information for this article was gathered by FOX 10's Steve Nielsen.