Hundreds of thousands of Israeli soldiers have been called up to serve in the country’s war against Hamas. Many Israeli civilians who are not serving are doing all they can to help.

“We brought them food, clothing. We brought them towels, fleeces for Shabbat, because this is going to be a long haul," said Avi, a dual American and Israeli citizen who asked us not to reveal his last name.

He’s among the Israelis serving his country from behind the front lines, volunteering time, effort and funds for soldiers in the Israeli Defense Forces.

“I’ve been purchasing clothing, thermal clothing for the soldiers and running around food, anything we could get our hands on,” he said.

“When you have 450,000 people show up to reserves within 48 hours, there’s definitely that crunch,” he said. “So whatever we can do to try to make it easier for them, especially friends that I’ve served with.”

Avi, who used to work for NY1 more than a decade ago, is also a former Israeli soldier. He now lives with his wife and children in a city about 20 miles west of Jerusalem and an hour drive from the Gaza Strip. But he still has friends and relatives in the Reserves.

“You hear the Iron Dome intercepting rockets right above our heads,” he said. “When you went outside you can see the cloud, the streaks and the smoke right over where we were praying.”

The Iron Dome, Israel’s defense system, is designed to intercept incoming projectiles, which could have rained down on Avi’s city if they were not intercepted.

The United Nations Under-Secretary-General tweeted a statement calling the unfolding violence “bone chilling,” while going on to say, “The whole region is at a tipping point. The violence must stop.”

UN agencies and aid organizations have been working around the clock since the crisis began. Smaller charities or individual companies are raising money for Israel, while some larger organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, are helping Israelis and Palestinians.

As the war rapidly escalates, it’s unclear how long it will go on.

“I was speaking with our cousins and their first cousins on the other side, they have family that was kidnapped and taken over to Gaza and they’re being held hostage at this point,” Avi said.

He and his wife moved to Israel more than a year ago because they love the country and want to raise their children there. He says the Israel-Hamas war has not changed his love of country, despite his new reality.

“At the end of the day this is home,“ Avi said. ”This is our home and we don’t want to be anywhere else.”

Several Israeli airlines have added more flights to bring home reservists to fight in the nation’s war against Hamas. It comes after numerous major carriers canceled or suspended flights in and out of Israel.