SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - San Diego-area families with ties to Lebanon are weighing difficult decisions about travel as Israel continues to strike targets in Beirut.
Four families who are parishioners at St. Ephrem Maronite Catholic Church in El Cajon remain in Beirut and are trying to return to San Diego.
"The sound of the bombs is very strong and they get scared," Nasr said.
Father Toufic Nasr has spoken with one of those families, who have return tickets for Tuesday.
Nasr said the family is anxious about the situation on the ground.
"They want to come back. They are a little worried the airport could be bombed or something like that. They may cancel the flight or the way to the airport might be bad," Nasr said. "They're okay but just want to come back before things get worse.”
Another parishioner, Rita Feghali, faces a different set of concerns. She has tickets for herself and her 16-year-old son on March 27 to fly into Beirut to visit family. After 5 days there, they are scheduled to fly to Turkey, where her son is set to perform violin at the Suzuki Violin Students Gala Concert, a prestigious international concert.
"I'm at a loss whether I should travel," Feghali said. “I am sure I don’t want to fly into Beirut. Not with my son. Not with the risk to our safety.”
Feghali described her fears about flying into a conflict zone.
"What if we are in the plane, there's something that happens in the air next to us, and the plane goes ‘kaboom.’ There's a lot of potential to go wrong if we end up flying to Lebanon," Feghali said.
While Feghali wants to cancel the Beirut leg of the trip, she still hopes to get her son to Turkey for the concert.
"My son wants to go. This is a big deal," Feghali said.
There is a financial challenge. The $2,300 fare is non-refundable, and revising the ticket to fly directly to Turkey would cost an additional $1,300 in change fees. Feghali says she will likely wait until the last minute before making a final decision.
"I will pay the penalty, whatever it takes to get to Turkey. If Turkey gets more risky, we may have to cancel and lose everything," Feghali said.
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.
