WASHINGTON: The United States has helped about 400 US citizens and others to fly out of Israel since Saturday amid conflict with Iran and hopes to accommodate more in the coming days, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday.
“We very much know that there’s still capacity, still US citizens seeking to leave Israel, that the airspace is not reliably opened up. It is incredibly dynamic,” the official said.
The State Department is sharing information with over 27,000 people about leaving the region and safety and security, the official said, up from 25,000 last week.
The US started some limited assisted-departure flights for US citizens, lawful permanent residents and their immediate family members on Saturday.
The official said thousands had also left Israel overland for Jordan, while several hundred had departed through Egypt over the past two days. Several thousand US citizens have gone to Cyprus on ships, mostly arranged by Birthright or other private groups.
Hundreds have left Iran through Azerbaijan, the official said. Turkmenistan has been restricting the entry of US citizens but is now allowing them in after weekend diplomatic efforts.
The State Department is aware of reports of a couple of US citizens detained in Iran in this process but has no additional information to share, the official said.
US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that Israel and Iran had reached a ceasefire
deal, although violations were reported.
Israel launched a surprise attack on June 13, hitting Iran’s nuclear sites and killing the top echelon of its military command.
Retaliatory missile strikes have killed 28 people in Israel.
Adam Goldstone, who arrived in Florida on Tuesday after leaving Israel through an effort to evacuate Americans organized by Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Emergency Management, said his family tried any way to get out of the country but that there were not many options.
“It was pretty indescribable. We left Sunday morning. There were sirens. We took a bus all the way to the Jordanian border. We spent hours at the border there trying to cross over,” Goldstone said.
Florida contracted the operation with Grey Bull Rescue, a Tampa-based foundation aiming at rescuing Americans from conflict zones, as well as the state’s Department of Transportation.
His wife, Donna Goldstone, said they had had to run to bomb shelters over 25 times.
“Sleepless nights for the past week and a half. It has been really intense,” she said.
