Alex Anzalone, who is a linebacker for the Detroit Lions, might have played Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, but there had to be a lot of weight on his mind and emotions throughout the game.
The linebacker’s parents, Sal and Judy Anzalone, are members of a 53-person group from First Naples Church (Naples, Florida) who are stranded in Israel as a result of Hamas’ attacks on the holy nation, trying to find a route back to the United States. The Palestinian militant group launched a surprise terrorist attack in the Gaza region Saturday.
The church group is scheduled to leave the country Thursday from Tel Aviv, according to The Detroit News. They’re currently in Jerusalem.
“It’s hard,” Anzalone told the outlet following the contest. “(It’s) really all I’ve been thinking about.”
After his Lions got the win over the Panthers, Anzalone took to social media to make a public plea to President Joe Biden.
“My parents are in this group. Please get my parents home… @POTUS,” Anzalone tweeted in a now-deleted response to Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds’ “Sunday Morning Futures” appearance.
Parents of Lions’ Alex Anzalone stuck in Israel as part of church tour group https://t.co/H3RnxJ78rJ
— The Detroit News (@detroitnews) October 9, 2023
“We must provide as much assistance as possible to get our people home,” Donalds tweeted Sunday morning. “Let me be VERY CLEAR with Hamas: Touch an American’s head & see what happens.”
“This needs to be the Biden admin position too,” he added.
“We are doing good at our hotel in Jerusalem,” First Naples Church pastor Alan Brumback said in an update posted Saturday on Facebook.
“Continue to pray for Israel and for this to be resolved as peacefully and quickly as possible. We are trusting in the Lord and we know that God’s got this.” (RELATED: ‘We Heard Gunshots’: Israeli Dad Reportedly Feared Dead After Daughter Rescue Attempt)
Since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, launching thousands of missiles at the nation and sparking invasions alongside the Gaza border, at least 1,100 people have died, including at least four Americans, a U.S. official told KTLA. Israel has declared war on the Iran-backed group.