U.S. to Issue Charter Flights for Americans Out of Israel

“We continue to monitor the situation closely and evaluate the demand from U.S. citizens for assistance in departing Israel on a real-time basis but expect these initial travel options to facilitate the safe departure of thousands of U.S. citizens per week,” Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. 

“The overall security situation, availability and reliability of commercial transportation, and U.S. citizen demand will all influence the duration of this departure assistance.”

Per PBS News, the announcement comes after the White House confirmed that at least 27 Americans have been killed during this week when Hamas launched a massacre on Israel last Saturday. The death toll from the war has jumped to at least 2,600 lives on both sides. 

Meanwhile, fourteen U.S. citizens in Israel remain unaccounted for, while a “handful” of Americans are among those Hamas has taken hostage. 

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and was joined by Deputy Special Representative for hostage affairs Steve Gillen. 

Blinkin announced that Americans would continue calling for regional countries to provide safe passage in and out of Gaza, especially for Americans who are currently trapped inside the blocked enclave. 

While Israel has not launched a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, the military already has more than 300,000 reservists ready for action. 

So far, some Americans have safely returned home from Israel, including a Tennessee church group in the country over the weekend when Hamas attacked Israel. 

According to The Christian Post, members of Sunnyside Baptist Church of Kingsport had been at the ancient Jewish stronghold, known as Masada, when they were informed that the terrorist organization launched their assault on Israeli civilians. 

“The national parks, the Dead Sea entrance, and other sites were closing all over the area. People were leaving their businesses and returning to their homes,” said church member Angie Baker. “Over the next two days, we were very limited in where we could go and how long we could stay.”

“Our tour guide and travel company kept consistently communicating that they thought we would be able to keep our scheduled flight on Oct. 10. We just continually kept praying for that to be God’s will for our group,” she continued.

“Under the supervision of our tour guides, we left our hotel for the Tel Aviv airport a little before 3 a.m. We were able to keep that scheduled flight, flying Turkish Airlines from Tel Aviv to Istanbul and then from Istanbul to Atlanta, where our chartered bus was waiting to take us all home to Kingsport,” Baker said. 

She told The Christian Post that she and her group were “relieved and very thankful” that they made it home in one piece.

“We were amazed to find out how many people had been involved in praying for us,” she said. 

She also shared that there were people who waited in the parking lot for them when they arrived in the church parking lot. 

“[T]he joy we felt was overwhelming,” she said. “While we were never really afraid because we knew that God was faithful, we were anxious and stressed, and when we got on the bus to Atlanta, we were all very joyful to be in our bus seat bound for home.”

Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Mateusz Atroszko

Video Courtesy: NBC News via YouTube

Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for Christian Headlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.

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This is a special episode of Inside The Epicenter. Joel and Carl delve into the current conflict taking place in Israel. They discuss the recent attacks, the implications of the conflict between Israel and Iran, the spiritual aspects of the situation, and the importance of supporting our brothers and sisters in Israel.

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