Students fly to Israel for holiday but end up in all-out war

Two Gold Coast teenagers flew into Israel for a holiday with relatives just days prior to unprecedented violent attacks erupting. Their frantic mother has revealed how they are coping.

Two Gold Coast teenagers have arrived in Israel days prior to the unprecedented violent attacks, with their shocked mother back home saying it’s like “missiles seem to chase them”.

Noa Chester-Haviv, 16 and her 13-year-old sister Tamar, landed in Israel a week ago to visit family. The sisters arrive at the airport in Tel Aviv received by an Aunty and their Grandmother on their mothers side.

Somerset College students Noa Chester-Haviv, 16 and her 13-year-old sister Tamar landed in Tel Aviv a week ago to visit family before travelling to northern Israel to stay with grandparents.

The teenagers were to be joined next month by their mother Maya Chester before Israel declared a state of war after hundreds were killed by Hamas fighters in shock attacks on Saturday.

A man shows his house that is damaged after the firing with rockets by Palestinians in response to Israeli airstrikes during an operation in Ramla, Israel on October 07, 2023. Rockets landed in the city of Ramla near Tel Aviv, causing damage to parked vehicles, streets and some houses in the city. Picture: Saeed Qaq

Ms Chester and her daughters left Israel when the girls were four and one to escape the ongoing conflict in the region.

The Mudgeeraba resident said she could not describe her state of fear following Saturday’s surprise attack and the resulting uncertainty throughout the region.

“It’s now happening to them - my worst nightmare,” Ms Chester said.

Maya Chester with her two daughters Tamar, 13 (L) and Noa, 16 at Brisbane airport before flying into Tel Aviv, Israel a week ago.

On Sunday, she told the Bulletin: “We’re trying to get them out and we can’t.

“I can’t find flights, there’s nothing available in the next few days – they’ve cancelled all flights by non-Israeli airlines.”

Photos supplied by the mum show her daughters at a train station days after arriving in Tel Aviv on the way to see their grandparents: “Missiles seem to chase them. That night they had to go into the shelter up north as well where we thought it would be safe. Little did we know.”

As of Monday night, Ms Chester revealed she had managed to find an escape flight out of Israel, and confirmed her daughters were in the air and she was “waiting for them to land - anxious”.

Ms Chester, the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor who fled Germany to Australia, said she had lost friends in the onslaught as rocket attacks fly between Israel and Gaza, but she was unsure if there may be more as the death toll rises.

An Israeli missile launched from the Iron Dome defence missile system attempts to intercept a rocket, fired from the Gaza Strip, over the city of Netivot in southern Israel. Israel, reeling from the deadliest attack on its territory in half a century, formally declared war on Hamas Sunday as the conflict's death toll surged close to 1,000 after the Palestinian militant group launched a massive surprise assault from Gaza. Picture: Mahmud Hams

“It’s awful,” she said.

“It is unbelievable – it’s very difficult to grasp.

“The way it all unfolded was unusual. We (Israelis) live in this reality, this is not new to us and it happens every now and again, but this feels like there’s a change of cards here.”

Ms Chester said the sentiment in the region was that the attack was “well-organised”.

Israeli rescue members work at a police station that was destroyed after a battle between Israeli troops and Hamas militants on October 8, 2023 in Sderot, Israel. On Saturday, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched the largest surprise attack from Gaza in a generation, sending thousands of missiles and an unknown number of fighters by land, who shot and kidnapped Israelis in communities near the Gaza border. The attack prompted retaliatory strikes on Gaza and a declaration of war by the Israeli prime minister. Picture: Amir Levy

“It’s surreal, the people I speak to, my family and my friends, they feel very unsafe because how could this have happened, how could they (Israeli security forces) not see – there are cameras everywhere, there’s really good intelligence – this is just next level.”

Ms Chester said her girls had been “okay” staying in a shelter with grandparents and joined by cousins as all schools in the region have been temporarily cancelled.

“They’re lucky to grow up here (Australia) so they don’t have much context, so they’re still a bit oblivious. I felt relief to hear that in their voices but I don’t know how oblivious they will stay,” she said.

Tamar Chester-Haviv, 13 (R) and her 16-year-old sister Noa (L), landed in Israel a week ago to visit family. The sisters at the train station at Tel Aviv before heading north to visit other grandparents.

Earlier, she said whilst they were still in Israel “the grandparents are making sure there are no televisions or radios on so they mitigate the situation to them, but we will need to push them to the airport and put them on whatever flight we can find and there’s absolutely nothing available.

“The advice we’ve received is to just go to the airport and just stand there until they give you a place on the flight but there’s big crowds - it’s insane,” she said on the Sunday before managing to find a flight out.

Ms Chester said other advice she had received prior to their exit was to leave the girls in a safe room so they can “somehow ride it out.”

Noa Chester-Haviv, 16 and her 13-year-old sister Tamar, landed in Israel a week ago to visit family. The sisters in a safe room in Israel trying to keep a routine doing school work with their cousins.

“It might also escalate into something bigger than we can imagine and that is a big fear,” Ms Chester said.

“It’s all very confronting, we don’t know what to do.”

As at Sunday the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade updated travel advice to Israel to “exercise a high degree of caution.”

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson added said Australia “unequivocally condemns the attacks on Israel by Hamas, including indiscriminate rocket fire, the targeting of civilians and the taking of hostages”.

“We call for these attacks to stop and recognise Israel’s right to defend itself. Australia urges the protection of all civilian lives. We also call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those taken hostage.

“Our thoughts are with those killed and injured in these attacks and all others affected. We are seeking to confirm the welfare of Australians who may have been caught in the attack on Israel.

“Australian officials are monitoring the situation closely and remain in touch with local authorities.

“We are aware that some flights from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport have been delayed or cancelled. Australians are encouraged to check with their airline for the latest updates before travelling.”

Australians in need of emergency consular assistance are urged to contact the Australian Government’s 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on [phone] (from overseas) or 1300 555 135 (from within Australia).