(NewsNation) — Rachel Shagg, an Israeli in the West Bank, says she woke up to bomb sirens Saturday.
“Since then, my whole world has been shattered,” Shagg said on “NewsNation Now,” just days after a surprise attack by Hamas from the Gaza Strip. Israel’s government then declared war, and vowed to lay siege to Gaza in response.
Hundreds have already been killed, and thousands more injured, in the violence.
Shagg says rumors keep rolling in of armed militants roaming around towns, killing people and burning down homes.
The situation is “just utter devastation,” Shagg said.
On Saturday, Shagg tried to contact one of her friends. He answered the phone, but whispered he couldn’t talk, and asked Shagg to message him.
“I kept getting sporadic, disorganized messages from him,” she recalled. “Everything was total chaos. We didn’t know what was happening.”
Shagg was later able to find out her friend was OK and safe in a hotel. Not all of her friends have been found yet, however.
Lynell Gordon, Shagg’s aunt and an American living in Jerusalem, called the situation “horrific.”
“I want everybody in the U.S. to know exactly what actually is happening to American citizens and all types of people that are living here,” Gordon said. “Everybody knows someone who’s dead, or someone who has been shot or someone who has been injured, or whole families that have been killed.”
Watch the entire interview in the video above.