A US teenager believed she was going to die while hiding in an Israel bomb shelter as the race to find missing Americans ramps up.

Mayah Zell, 15, spent last weekend frightened for her life as she was locked inside a bomb shelter in Petah Tikva, in central Israel.

Rockets and bombs fired overhead, landing with loud thuds that shook the building she was staying in with family.

“I’ve never been so afraid in my life,” Zell told Newsday.

“It was insane. I genuinely didn’t think I was going to make it out. The thoughts were, ‘Would I be able to get back home?’”

Hamas militants captured the Gaza border, beheading men, women, and children in their beds early on Saturday morning.

The Israeli army took back control of the village on Tuesday as its soldiers were faced with recovering the bodies of the victims.

About 20 Americans are still missing, including a mother and daughter who were at the Nova music festival when the terrorists struck, said US national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

“We believe that there are 20 or more Americans who at this point are missing, but I want to underscore and stress that does not mean necessarily that there are 20 or more American hostages,” said Sullivan.

“Just that is the number who are currently unaccounted for.”

Zell traveled to Israel last month with her family to celebrate the Jewish holidays and for her sister’s bat mitzvah.

She woke up to the sounds of sirens on Saturday morning, sending her family running into the bomb shelter.

It was the Sabbath, meaning the family didn’t use electronics so they weren’t aware of the assault on Israeli citizens by Hamas.

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“We were crying. I was so sad,” said Zell. “We were praying because really the only thing that we can do is to just pray and to believe in God and believe that he is doing everything that he can.

“It’s just so hard because there’s nothing else you can do.”

The family spent 24 hours huddled inside the shelter, barely able to sleep or eat over the fear of the militants entering the apartment at any time and killing them.

Zell said she was scared and refused to be alone, even when it came time to use the bathroom.

“I genuinely thought that I was going to die,” she told the outlet.

“I thought I was in a horror movie. It took me so much time to accept that this is reality right now. That I’m not in a movie. I’m not in a nightmare.”

The family’s flight home was canceled, so Zell and her mother traveled to Ben Gurion Airport and successfully booked another flight.

“This shows how strong Israelis are and how hard we push and how we are just united,” said Zell.

“This is who we are.”

The family is still a bit shaken but safely returned home to New York on Monday. 

However, they’re still worried for the dozens of relatives that were left behind.

“We’re scared for them,” said Zell. “and we are praying for them every moment we get.”