Americans in Israel, including Miami Beach mayor's son, arrive at MIA as Iran conflict rages on

As the conflict between the U.S. and Iran continues, Americans who were trapped in the Middle East have begun arriving home on Sunday.

Many of them departed from countries where commercial flights have now resumed to some degree.

Three American students were spending the year in Israel for religious studies and never expected to be trapped in a war-torn region.

NBC6 spoke to them at Miami International Airport as they were on one of the first recovery flights from Israel.

“I was happy looking out the window in the airplane seeing the American flag,” a student said. I can’t lie, it’s very scary. There were times, 4 in the morning even, you hear the sirens going off, you jump out of bed and have to run to the shelter.”

Obviously, it’s scary, the sirens going off every few hours, going to the shelter, but I had faith that everything would work out,” said Matis Meiner.

Matis’ father is Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner.

“It’s nerve-wracking, certainly,” the mayor said. “My wife, his mom, very nervous.”

It was a similar experience for others on the same flight, as they shared photos from inside bomb shelters.

“Literally, every five minutes, I was running to the bomb shelter,” said a passenger. “You couldn’t live your life normally or anything.”

“There were missiles flying over our heads,” said a passenger. “We were in and out of the shelter every 20 minutes. The sirens were going off.”

The Anteby family was in Israel for a bar mitzvah and later found themselves in the middle of retaliatory attacks.

“My daughter had an explosion two blocks from her hotel, and a woman was killed,” Robyn Anteby said.

She said their goal was to get on the first flight back.

“We actually drove to the airport and went on standby,” she said. “We all got on the flight, and now we’re here in Miami.”

And they came back on a recovery flight on El Al Airlines.

“Thanks to the U.S Embassy, I got put on this flight and was told to take this flight, and thank God,” a student said. “

All these passengers were exhausted, but relieved and happy to be home.”

“We’re happy to be on American soil and not have to worry about hearing the sirens go off,” Anteby said. “I think we’ll have some PTSD every time we hear that noise.”

As many Americans still look to get on a flight home, according to the Department of State, more than 32,000 Americans have safely returned to the U.S. from the Middle East.

That number does not include Americans who have relocated to other countries or are still on their way back to the U.S.

Officials said they will actively assist any American who wishes to leave the Middle East.