MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — As the war in Israel continues and more civilians are caught in the crossfire, local families are growing concerned with the safety of their loved ones who are living in the war-torn country.

The Golan family is living in a city about an hour away from Tel Aviv. Roni Golan is off to fight in the war while his wife, Carrie, originally from Mobile, is working hard to stay positive through it all.

News 5 spoke exclusively with Carrie’s dad, Larry Voit. He has lived in Mobile since 1976 and raised his family here.

Carrie, who went to Murphy for two years, is now 39 and married with three young boys. She and her family have lived in Haifa, Israel, for over a decade. 

Carrie’s husband, Roni, is an Israeli citizen and was in the reserves. He was called up to active duty in early October, shortly after Hamas’ initial attack on Israel.

“When somebody in your immediate family is placed in a situation where they’ve got to do military service in an actual war, then that’s a little terrifying,” Voit said.

Although the war hasn’t reached Haifa, and the family hasn’t had to evacuate, Voit is concerned with the ‘what ifs’ especially because communication with Roni has been slim.

“Haifa is within range of Hezbollah rockets coming out of the Lebanon and, you know, they’re potential targets there,” Voit. said “Not to mention the fact that Roni is in the Army, and I don’t know where he is, and she doesn’t know where he is.”

Carrie is the glue for her family while Roni fights on the front lines.

“I think she tries to calm us, but we can see the concern and the anxiety,” Voit said. 

Being a Jewish family, the Voits would take family trips to Israel, where Carrie later went to study abroad. They never imagined it would become a war zone this heinous.

“I don’t think that I ever expected the attack to be quite like this with these unprotected civilians just being slaughtered by these marauding barbarians from Hamas,” Voit said. “It was inhumane, and it was not expected. This is an organization that is among the most evil and despicable paramilitary organizations that I’ve ever known about.”

Voit continues to pray for the safety of his family and said the support from Americans to Israel has been overwhelming.

“The support that I’ve seen in this community from in the Jewish community, but also in the non-Jewish community, has been wonderful, heartening and amazing,” Voit said. “My hope is for peace for the Israelis, for peace, for the Palestinians, peace for everyone in the Middle East.”