Albury mum Jenny Jensen stuck in Jerusalem as Israel struck by deadly terrorist attack

Jenny Jensen was forced to seek refuge in a bomb shelter and has been holed up in a Jerusalem motel since Saturday's ferocious terror attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which has left at least 1000 (mostly civilian) people dead.

The 62-year-old, who spoke to The Border Mail from Jerusalem earlier on Tuesday (6am local time), was preparing to fly out of the country on a Fijian charter flight with 250 stranded Fijians.

The plane, which will only spend two hours on the ground at Tel Aviv and is carrying a double crew to save change-over time, will fly to Hong Kong and then straight on to Fiji.

She had been visiting the holy city with a group of Australians, including Wodonga resident Sarah Way, who volunteer with International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ).

That contingent flew home on Saturday, but Mrs Jensen elected to stay on with a group of Fijians to showcase the family's Albury AgBoss business at a Fijian-Israeli agricultural expo.

Mrs Jensen says initially there was very little panic when the first air raid siren sounded at breakfast on Saturday morning.

Motel guests were ushered into the bomb shelter but told there wasn't too much cause for concern.

"We went down to the bomb shelter four or five times on that Saturday morning then we'd get the all clear," Mrs Jensen says.

"It wasn't until late Saturday night and into Sunday morning that we became aware of the full extent of the events that had unfolded."

As news trickled in and with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially declaring war, Mrs Jensen immediately began talks with the Fijians to get on a flight out of the country with them.

"I was due to leave on Wednesday with Emirates but there's been so much talk about the airport being shut if Iran comes in," she explains.

"The atrocities here are terrible.

"My heart is breaking for these people - there's not one family across Israel who is not affected in some way with friends and family killed or missing and their boys called up to war.

"The Arab taxi driver who took me to my motel was crying and saying, 'We don't want this'."

Israeli officials say Hamas fighters captured more than 100 hostages including women, children and elderly people who were taken into Gaza as captives.

Militants also invaded a music festival near the Gaza-Israel border where the bodies of more than 260 young people have been recovered from a site where revellers fled in a hail of bullets.

"Imagine seeing your daughter torn away," Mrs Jensen says.

"Mothers and fathers were shot and their babies left dying in the street!"

Mrs Jensen says her family back home are waiting, watching and worrying about her safe arrival home.

Their daughter Carly, the 'miracle baby' who recently celebrated her 40^th birthday, is particularly anxious about her beloved mum.

"Carly rang me last night and said, 'Mum you know it's pretty scary having a mum stuck in a country that's gone to war'," Mrs Jensen reveals.

While she can see the red haze and smoke of the Gaza fires from the window of her motel room, Mrs Jensen says at this stage Jerusalem is relatively quiet.

"I have my faith and there are so many people around the world praying for us," she adds.

Mrs Jensen and the Fijians will be bussed out of Jerusalem and fly out of Tel Aviv's international airport at 4pm local time (midnight AEST).

She hopes to fly to Australia on Thursday night and be home with her family in Albury on Friday.

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