In an interview with Arutz Sheva, evacuees in a Jerusalem hotel shared their feelings about Purim celebrations in the shadow of the war and being away from their homes.

Gila Biton from Kiryat Shmona admitted that the distance from home is difficult for her. "We miss our home. This is our land and together we will win. In the meantime, we have until July to be here. I miss the landscape and my brothers, my children. We do what we can.”

Smadar Kabessa, also a resident of Kiryat Shmona, added: "I miss my home, my cooking and my guests. We will continue to celebrate despite the situation and continue to pray that, with God's help, we will win, even though we suffer immensely for every soldier who is killed. We must be happy and pray for the people of Israel."

Pninit Malka from Sderot said: "Sderot is with us in our hearts. We miss them all. Whoever could, went home. We still don't feel safe taking our children back there. We will return when it is sufficiently quiet and secure."

Malka added that even on Purim, "We think about everything that has happened, about all the hostages who are still there, about our soldiers who are fighting there for us. We think about everything together. We are happy, but we are also waiting for a miracle."

Yaara Edri, doing her national service at the hotel, spoke about the activities for the evacuees before Purim: "We had a variety of activities here and we held a lot of events for the children. The holidays are not easy for them because of the distance. We are a special and cohesive community here."

Rut from Kiryat Shmona summed up the situation: "May we have real happiness, because today we are trying to lift ourselves up and rejoice. May the hostages come back home. That is the most important thing."

Uri, who dressed up as a soldier and spoke about how much he is missing his friends in Sderot, wanted to convey a message: "Am Yisrael Chai - The people of Israel will live and together we will win."