Major airlines suspend flights to Israel

(NewsNation) —Some major airlines like United, American and Delta have suspended all flights to Israel through at least Monday as fighting rages on. And over the past day, there has been a stream of arrivals across the U.S. of people fleeing the new war.

Eden Bendavid fled Tel Aviv for Los Angeles due to the violence.

“It’s hard. We had to go because of our kids, but like, my heart is there, all my family, everybody’s there. My cousin’s husband just passed away. He tried to save other people,” Bendavid said.

It’s been an exodus out of Israel with many people arriving in Los Angeles, New York and Miami, some of America’s cities with the largest Jewish populations. This comes as security has been stepped up at synagogues across the country, including in southern California.

“Certainly, synagogues are places we’re paying attention to,” Beverly Hills Mayor Julian Gold said. “But on the street, you’ll see that we’ve got our private security, more of that out, our police officers, more of them are out.”

The NYPD also beefed up patrols around all New York City synagogues, as supporters on both sides of the war take to the streets. And increased security is also in place in Miami.

The last flights out of Tel Aviv arrived early Sunday, with all U.S. carriers appearing to have suspended service indefinitely. That means an unknown number of Americans are likely still in Israel with no way home.

The Israeli government formally declared war Sunday and gave the green light for “significant military steps” to retaliate against Hamas for its surprise attack. At least 700 people have reportedly been killed in Israel and more than 400 in Gaza.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.