LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas man is back home after a 40-hour journey across three continents to escape Israel amid ongoing rocket fire.
Avi Dan-Goor, a real estate professional, was visiting family in Israel when the conflict intensified. He is now back in his Las Vegas office, talking with clients, setting up showings and trying to return to normal life. But just days ago, everything looked very different.
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"In a situation like that, everything changes by the hour. There are no set plans," Dan-Goor said.
Dan-Goor said plans were replaced by alerts — warnings of incoming rockets — and a sense of urgency that didn't fade. He said his return started with coordination with the U.S. government and local leaders, but he ultimately took matters into his own hands.
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"It was a long journey — I had to fly from Israel to Athens… six hours there… then London — another six and a half — and from there an eleven-hour flight to Vegas," Dan-Goor said.
On Sunday night, Israel's airport looked nearly empty. Dan-Goor captured videos of silent terminals and empty gates. He said when the airport reopened in limited capacity, only Israeli airlines were willing to fly people out.
"Only Israeli airlines are willing to fly out of Israel at this time. No foreign airline has agreed to come back and fly," Dan-Goor said.
Leaving carried an emotional weight beyond the logistics.
"Not only the excitement of going back home, but also the ache of leaving my family behind — and it's not like things have ended. It's still ongoing… by the hour I'm getting updates from my family," Dan-Goor said.
While in Israel, Dan-Goor said technology kept him constantly informed of danger, with location-specific notifications giving him as little as 15 seconds or as much as 10 minutes to take cover.
He said this experience felt more threatening than any he had faced before.
"This time was just more intense than I've ever experienced personally… probably even more scary just because the enemy at times keeps getting stronger," Dan-Goor said.
Dan-Goor said it was pride and solidarity that kept him in Israel until the very end.
"I felt like my family and friends weren't going through that alone. I was there to experience it with them," Dan-Goor said.
Now back in Las Vegas, Dan-Goor said it is difficult to fully disconnect from what is still happening thousands of miles away.
"It's very hard to emotionally and physically disconnect. I'm still very much up to speed on all the alerts — communicating with family and friends on an hourly basis," Dan-Goor said.
State Department officials say they are not aware of an exact number of American citizens still in the region, but say they are in contact with thousands to try to get them home safely.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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