Countries rush to evacuate citizens as Israel-Hamas war rages
- Operations to repatriate the thousands of foreigners stuck in Israel and across the Palestinian territories have begun, with more planned in the coming days
- The US government will begin offering charters for American citizens, while some German, Thai and other evacuation flights have already returned
Thousands of foreigners are stuck in Israel and across the Palestinian territories, where a full-blown war has erupted since Hamas militants launched their attack.
With the violence having already claimed thousands of lives on both sides, several countries have launched operations to repatriate their citizens, while others plan to do so in the coming days.
Here is an overview of ongoing and planned evacuations, according to official sources:
United States
The US government will begin offering charter flights to transport American citizens and immediate family members who are seeking to leave Israel, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
Kirby told reporters at a White House briefing on Thursday that the administration does not have an estimate for how many Americans are seeking to leave the country but asked US citizens in Israel who want help evacuating to fill out an intake form on the US State Department website.
Kirby said the US is also looking for ways to evacuate its citizens by land and sea.
A US State Department spokesman said charter flights would start on Friday.
