PITTSBURGH -- For people living in Pittsburgh, the situation in Israel might seem far away.

But for one local woman, the violence strikes very close to home.

A top United Nation's official in Gaza said "there's nowhere safe" in the territory. The comments were made as Israeli forces struck near UN schools.

Reports from Gaza indicate 30 people were killed and 55 injured in one attack. Hundreds of Palestinians have been seeking refuge in buildings.

The Israeli army is not commenting, but said Hamas militants often use schools for cover.

A woman from Monroeville experienced the rocket attacks by Hamas into Israel first-hand.

Maura Linzer went to visit her fiancé in an area of Israel she thought was safe -- until the bombs started to fall.

Linzer arrived in Israel on Dec. 26. Two days later, she found herself in the middle of a war.

Israel is about the size of the state of New Jersey. The fighting is going on in the Gaza Strip. Linzer was in Be'er Sheva about 25 miles away, about the distance between Pittsburgh and Cranberry.

"Rockets had never reached as far, so there was no reason to believe that rockets would have ever reached into Be'er Sheva," Linzer said.

But this time they did. A week ago Tuesday, Linzer heard the first siren, a warning that you have 60 seconds to find safety.

"Until you hear the siren sounding and you watch people running for cover, you can't really understand it until you've been there," Linzer said.

Those first rockets fell a good distance away. For Linzer, it still wasn't real. The very next morning was different.

"This time you could not only hear the boom, but you could feel the whole building shake," Linzer said.

The second barrage of rockets hit only about 40 yards away, while Linzer trembled in a nearby stairwell.

"Your legs are shaking underneath you. First, you're praying to God that it's not coming at you. Then when you hear it hit so close and you know you're in a residential area and you know that there are people all around you terrified," said Linzer. "It's unbelievable fear of 'Where did that missile land and did it hurt anyone?' And 'When is the next one going to come?'"

Linzer and her and her fiancé didn't stay to find out. The pair left Be'er Sheva shortly after and drove about 90 minutes north, to a town just south of Tel Aviv.

"I feel safe where I am right now. But safe is all relative," said Linzer.

Linzer plans to return to the United States on Friday.