Fifteen-year-old Bella Baker should be in a classroom in Leeds, beginning her GCSE mock exams.
Instead, she is facing the horror of the Israel-Iran conflict as she remains stranded in a hotel in the northern Israeli port of Haifa, where on Monday, 30 people were injured in a dawn missile attack on the city.
With her mother, the pair are among the dozens of British nationals who are unable to return home from Israel after authorities closed the country’s airspace for landings and take-offs due to an escalation in the war.
The pair had travelled to Israel for a family member’s bar mitzvah last Tuesday – but plans to come home on Sunday changed after Israel’s surprise attack on Friday sparked a retaliation from Iran.
The assault resulted in a weekend of escalating attacks between the two countries. And early on Monday morning, Iran fired a new wave of missiles at Tel Aviv and Haifa, killing eight people.
For the latest on the Israel-Iran conflict – click here to read our blog for updates
Now Bella and her mother are living in a war zone in Haifa, and unable to get a flight or boat home, said Bella’s father, Leslie Baker.
In an email sent to Leeds North East MP Fabien Hamilton, which has been seen by The Independent, the technology consultant said: “My daughter is now getting used to a new normal, sirens sounding and told to head to bomb shelters at 3am, then told to stay near a shelter at all times.
“Beaches and business areas are closed and she describes it as being ‘back in Covid’ staying in one room awaiting the next siren. If she stays much longer then she’ll be learning how to put on a gas mask should the need arise, just as every other child in Israel has.
“She should not be there. She should not be in a war zone. Bella should be here starting her mocks with the rest of her year group.”
Mr Baker told The Independent he was in contact with his daughter over WhatsApp and used an app to receive notifications for rocket alerts. To provide some home comfort, he streamed reality show Love Island over the phone to her while she sat in her hotel’s bomb shelter on Sunday night.
Bella and her mother are staying in a hotel close to a relative’s home, where they are receiving food supplies.
Mr Baker, who is also concerned that Bella will run out of medication she takes in just over a week, said: “She is scared. She’s never been in this situation before, and she’s young. She wants to come home, see her friends and go back to school.”
The Foreign Office has updated its guidance to advise against all travel to Israel, warning that the situation could “deteriorate further, quickly and without warning”. British nationals in Israel are urged to follow the advice of local authorities.
But with the airspace closed and no sign yet of the UK government providing repatriation flights, some British nationals are considering taking land crossings, such as into Egypt, to escape the war.
However, Mr Baker said crossing borders into neighbouring countries for his daughter carried a “significant dangerous risk”.
He has called on the UK government to provide flights to bring those stranded, including his ex-partner and daughter, home.
He said: “The UK government has to do something. It can’t just sit and do nothing. There should be boats put on to get people to Cyprus. In the current situation, you can’t just leave British nationals, who are feeling scared, in the country with no support or way out.”
Comedian Zach Margolin, 31, from north London, was in Tel Aviv for his birthday when the conflict escalated. He told The Times: “Ideally, the UK government should be putting on a repatriation flight,” he said. “The only update [from the Foreign Office] is don’t go to Israel.”
James Eden, 72, from Newcastle, was in Jerusalem for a six-day Christian pilgrimage. He told PA: “[The Foreign Office] rang me and said there wasn’t a lot they could do. They can’t put on any planes because the airspace is shut – all they can do is send out alerts and keep track of us.”
Mr Eden is now considering travelling across the land border into Egypt.
Foreign secretary David Lammy posted on X, formerly Twitter: “My message to British nationals there is clear – your safety remains our top priority.”
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: “The FCDO advises against all travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. British nationals should continue to follow the advice of local authorities.”
