--- description: “My body is leaving Gaza but my heart will always be here” title: Americans Flee Israel Airstrikes Against Hamas in Gaza image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbaafcef0234eb039/69869b8e36176055bf90d09a/452097622.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # American Citizens Among Hundreds Fleeing Gaza Airstrikes by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 13, 2014 8:13 PM CUT  Smoke billows from a building hit by an Israeli air strike in the town of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on July 13, 2014. Smoke billows from a building hit by an Israeli air strike in the town of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on July 13, 2014.Said Khati—AFP/Getty Images by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 13, 2014 8:13 PM CUT About 150 Palestinian-Americans evacuated the Gaza Strip Sunday after Israel stepped up its deadly airstrikes—bringing the death toll to 171 and raising fears that a ground invasion is imminent. More than 1,000 have been wounded in the airstrikes, Gaza’s health ministry said. Several Israelis have been wounded, but there have been no fatalities, Israel said. Palestinians with foreign passports, including dual American citizens, began leaving Gaza through the Erez border crossing Sunday. “My body is leaving Gaza but my heart will always be here,” said Akram Mustasha, from Houston, Texas, who had been in the area on summer vacation until violence became unbearable… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/american-citizens-among-hundreds-fleeing-gaza-airstrikes-n154616?cid=par-time-article%5F20140713 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2979877/israel-gaza-strip-hamas-americans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2979877/israel-gaza-strip-hamas-americans/"},"headline":"American Citizens Among Hundreds Fleeing Gaza Airstrikes","datePublished":"2014-07-13T20:13:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:07:11.703Z","description":"“My body is leaving Gaza but my heart will always be here”","url":"https://time.com/2979877/israel-gaza-strip-hamas-americans/","keywords":["Israel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbaafcef0234eb039/69869b8e36176055bf90d09a/452097622.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbaafcef0234eb039/69869b8e36176055bf90d09a/452097622.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT-GAZA","caption":"PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT-GAZA","creditText":"Said Khati—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2979877/israel-gaza-strip-hamas-americans/","name":"American Citizens Among Hundreds Fleeing Gaza Airstrikes"}}]}] ```