War breaks out in the Middle East, American LGBTQ most affected

>war breaks out in the middle east

>american LGBTQ most affected

• Hamas launched unprecedented surprise attacks on Israel on Saturday, killing at least 800 people.

• LGBTQ+ activist Rachael Fried and her wife were visiting Israel during the attacks.

• They left Israel on a flight through Dubai, where being gay is a crime.

As an American LGBTQ+ activist, Rachael Fried never thought she would feel a sense of relief upon landing in Dubai, where homosexuality is a crime. But when Hamas launched large-scale surprise attacks on Israel on Saturday, it became the best option.

Fried, who works as the executive director of the nonprofit Jewish Queer Youth, flew to Israel with her wife to visit family and friends for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which began on September 29. The couple took an Emirates flight from New York to Israel with a stopover in Dubai, where same-s*x sexual acts can carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years, according to Human Dignity Trust.

LGBTQ+ issues in Israel are more nuanced. LGBTQ+ identities are not criminalized, and Tel Aviv is known as the "gay capital of the Middle East" with a pride parade that attracts hundreds of thousands of attendees ever year. At the same time, same-s*x marriage is not legal, though Israel retroactively recognizes same-s*x marriages performed outside of the country, and homophobic attitudes are prevalent among more traditional communities, according to Keshet UK.

"Whenever we travel to a new country or city, I always look up the situation for queer people in that place so that we can stay safe and act accordingly," Fried told Insider. "Before we landed in Dubai on our way to Israel, my research found that even a slight hand touch in a way that appeared to be vaguely gay was illegal and could be punishable by imprisonment. We were only in Dubai for two hours on the way there, but we were acutely aware of the way that we interacted with each other and I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders once we took off for Israel."

On Saturday, as communities across Israel celebrated the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, Hamas militants broke through Israel's security fences on the Gaza border and launched coordinated surprise attacks that killed at least 800 people and wounded thousands more. Hundreds of civilians and military personnel were also taken captive.

Fried woke up in Jerusalem to the sound of sirens indicating incoming rockets from Gaza. She and her wife took cover in a bomb shelter at their hotel.

"It was shocking and scary and no one knew what would be or if we would be able to get home after the holiday was over," she said.

Fried and her wife were able to board their original Emirates flight home through Dubai on Sunday night, along with other travelers who had booked last-minute tickets in frantic efforts to leave the country. As the plane landed in Dubai, Fried was struck by the irony of feeling safer there.

"While we were on the tarmac in Tel Aviv, there was news of [the city's] Ben Gurion airport being the next target and rumors of the airport shutting down imminently," she said. "I felt a huge sense of relief and safety landing in Dubai, and an immediate heavy sadness that I felt more comfortable being in a place where I was committing a crime for existing with my spouse than I felt being in Israel."

Israel has formally declared war on Hamas following the deadliest terror attack in the country's history, responding with missile strikes in Gaza that have killed more than 550 people as of Monday, the Gaza Ministry of Health said.