A Millbrook High School graduate spending a gap year in Israel has found himself in the middle of the war zone.
Noah Cutler, 18, is safe in the town of Eilat, but says he’s seen things he never thought he would see. It included having to go to a bomb shelter.
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“My heart dropped,” Cutler said. “I knew what happened.”
Cutler was in the shower when the sirens went off.
“I ran out,” Cutler said. “My friends were already running.
“I grabbed a go bag because you don’t know how long you will be in the bomb shelter.”
Cutler said people have 90 seconds to get to a bomb shelter before missiles could hit. He said he and dozens of other students were in Jerusalem when the sirens went off. Cutler was there as part of a Young Judaea program, a year-long internship.
“I lived in Raleigh my entire life,” Cutler said. “I’ve been thrust into this world of conflict of death and mass destruction, its not something I or anyone on my program are used to.”
Cutler said many of his friends have lost relatives in the attacks. Some were even held hostage.
“My friends’ family members are captured in Gaza right now,” Cutler said.
Cutler said after the attacks, he and others fled to safety in an armored bus, traveling south to the town of Eilat.
“The program leaders decided for participants’ mental health and wellbeing not to worry about a siren going off at any second,” Cutler said.
Given all the devastation, Cutler and the other students are now giving back.
“We volunteer and we help with school children,” he said.
Cutler said the group has participated in donation drives and cleared out bomb shelters.
Cutler said about half the students in the program have gone back to the U.S. due to the war. He plans to stay until May when the program is over.
"No once did I consider leaving," he said.