Israel conflict: Southampton couple's holiday a nightmare

Callum Prince surprised his partner Amy Whitfield with a holiday to visit old friends of hers in the Middle-Eastern country.

But on Saturday, militants from Palestinian group Hamas launched one of the deadliest attacks on Israeli citizens in decades, killing hundreds of people including attendees of the Supernova music festival.

Amy, 31, said: “It was meant to be a holiday with my friends, but it turned into a nightmare."

Callum Prince (Image: Callum Prince)Callum planned the surprise visit to Yakum - a unique type of Israeli community known as a kibbutz in the centre of the country - as an opportunity for Amy to catch up with old friends.

The 24-year-old from Woolston said: “We've been together for eight months and in that time we were thinking about holidays.

“She previously went travelling in Australia and made friends in Israel, so I thought I’d surprise her and take her out there.

“When we arrived, everything went to plan and we met Amy’s friends.

“It felt like a normal day when we woke up on Saturday, but one of Amy’s friends said the war had started.”

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Soon, thousands of missiles began to rain down as Hamas targeted multiple areas in Israel, including nearby city Tel Aviv, and the pair left their hotel to stay at a friend's house.

Hamas is a Palestinian militant group which rules the Gaza strip - the centre of much of the current conflict - and wants to replace Israel, a Jewish country, with an Islamic state.

Yakum is also only 56 miles away from Gaza.

Callum said: “We laid low for a bit and then it got worse. One of Amy’s friend’s boyfriends got called in to fight and that’s when it felt real.

“We heard a lot of bombs, and they shook the whole house. We even saw missiles fly past.

“I tried to stay in the house as much as possible but we could still hear the bombs from inside.”

Israel has retaliated to the attack by Hamas with air strikes on Gaza (Image: Hatem Moussa/AP)

Callum started looking at flights home but with costs amounting to over £1,000, there were limited options.

Thankfully, they managed to get a flight to Cyprus, from where they will fly home to the UK today.

He said: “Amy’s friends said the best option was to get out and go anywhere.

“Cyprus is only one hour away, and it was worth spending the money to get here."

Amy, who met her friends about four years ago, said she wanted to bring them home with her: “It’s sad for my friends as they are stuck in Israel suffering from it. It’s a worry.

“It’s the first time this has happened in years, and it occurred when we visited. It wasn’t a nice experience.

“I am trying to give my friends space but also tell them they are on my mind.”