A woman from New York has been sheltering in place in Israel, where her apartment building sits in a war zone as the country's military and Hamas have engaged in deadly warfare since Saturday.
Shia Kramer Coyne, 18, is from Manhattan but has been living in Tel Aviv as she completes an internship. Since the first weekend attack, she's run to her building's stairwell to shelter from air strikes.
"We're scared to say the least, terrified. It's been a really scary two days, but we're banding together and being supportive of each other," she said.
"The safest place in my apartment building is the stairwell from rockets and bombs. That's where we all go when we hear rockets and that's been frequently in the last two days."
When the air raid sirens came to a stop, the 18-year-old said she was able to venture outside with friends.
"We really needed some fresh air, and a few buildings away we saw a building completely torn apart, and that was frightening because it could have been us," she told News 4.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
On Monday, the war's death toll rose had already risen to nearly 1,600 on both sides.
Those like Shia Kramer Coyne are finding ways to cope amid the tragedy.
"We're all very close, we're trying to keep our spirits high. There's nothing we can do but stay inside, all we can do is spend time together," she said.
