Two friends, one living in Chicago area, mourn their hometown in Israel after attack
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Amid the Israel-Hamas War, the town of Sderot is now deserted.
The Israeli Defense Forces evacuated the village of nearly 35,000 after Hamas' brutal Oct. 7 terror attack. Few survivors have remained there.
CBS 2's Marissa Perlman talked with two Israeli women from Sderot who are mourning their town and the life they once knew.
The women are best friends from the small Israeli border town. One lives in the Chicago area, while the other was in Sderot at the time of the attack – and has since evacuated to the Dead Sea.
For both of them, Sderot will always be home – and now, they don't know when their town will rebuild.
In Sderot, the stores are now barricaded shut – and the roads are empty.
At its closest point, the town is a mile and a half from the Gaza border. Living there, residents have between 15 and 30 seconds to run to a shelter once an air raid siren sounds.
But for both Natali Morzchanov and Daniela William, Sderot was home – where they loved growing up.
"We are surrounded by our enemies, you know. But we want to live here," said Morzchanov. "This is our country. We're Jewish. We have no place to go."
In a conversation mere days after dozens of the women's neighbors were killed and their hometown was reduced to rubble on Oct. 7 – which they call Black Saturday – we spoke with Morzchanov from the safety of a hotel room that is now her temporary home. We also spoke with William, who moved to Buffalo Grove two years ago.
"We have so many lives that we lost that we cannot even comprehend," said Morzchanov.
On Oct. 7, Morzchanov and her grandparents locked themselves in their safe room for hours.
"We stayed at home," she said. "We closed the windows. We closed everything. We stayed silent."
The police station in Sderot was destroyed by Israeli tank fire after Hamas terrorists stormed it – killing the police officers inside.
Some of those same officers first rescued many people while the town was under attack.
"They saved life. They were heroes. They were heroes," said Morzchanov. "I'm speechless."
William has been feeling helpless – watching the war from 6,000 miles away.
"This is the lowest point that we ever had – murdering and slaughtering people," William said.
William said even in Chicago, she is scared of letting people know she is Israeli.
"I have some nightmares. I can't sleep because of that," she said. "I have anxiety."
Meanwhile, Morzchanov, who doesn't know when she will be able to return to Sderot, said she feels empowered to wear her Star of David necklace.
"I walk with this necklace right now, everywhere I go," she said, "because I want everyone to know I am Jewish, and I am from Israel. I'm proud of that."
Both Morzchanov and William hope for peace, feel pride for the country, and are fearful for how their hometown will rebuild.
"The fact that I was evacuated from my home – I'm going to be there. I'm going to come back," said Morzchanov said. "I'm not leaving my city like that."
"I love my country," said William. "I do believe so that I will come back to Israel someday."
The Israeli government is putting Morzchanov and her family in a state-run hotel for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, it is now from Sderot where there have been almost constant airstrikes across the border into Gaza for more than two weeks.
