The U.S. Embassy is working to facilitate the evacuation of American citizens stranded in Israel due to its war with Iran.
In a post on X, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said the U.S. was working on evacuation flights and ships. Israeli airspace has been mostly closed since Friday, when Israel launched a surprise ballistic missile attack against Iran.
“Urgent notice! American citizens wanting to leave Israel- US Embassy in Israel @usembassyjlm is working on evacuation flights & cruise ship departures,” Huckabee said.
He also urged stranded citizens to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program to stay updated.
The announcement is a big change from just nine hours before, when the U.S. Embassy announced it had no plans to assist Americans evacuating the country.
“We have no announcement about assisting private U.S. citizens to depart at this time. The Department of State is always planning for contingencies to assist with private U.S. citizens’ departure from crisis areas. We will alert the U.S. citizen community if there is additional information to share regarding departure options,” the Embassy said in a post on its X account.
“The U.S. Embassy is aware that third parties are assisting U.S. citizens in departing Israel. While we are not able to endorse any providers, we understand some have been able to successfully help U.S. citizens,” it added.
Some signs over the past two days have indicated President Donald Trump is warming to intervening in Israel’s war with Iran. He’s remained ambiguous on whether or not the U.S. will launch strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program.
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“You don’t seriously think I’m going to answer that question,” the president responded on the White House lawn when a reporter asked when the United States might enter the fray. “You don’t know that I’m going to even do it. You don’t know. I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do. I can tell you this, that Iran’s got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate.”
Iran has launched several ballistic missile salvos at Israel since the war began, killing two dozen and injuring hundreds. Hundreds of Iranians have been killed in Israel’s strikes, including the country’s senior military leadership.