Thousands of U.S. citizens evacuated Israel during the Jewish state’s 12-day conflict with Iran, according to a U.S. State Department official.
The official said that exact figures on evacuees are impossible to determine due to the large number of dual citizens, who may use multiple passports for travel. U.S. government-organized flights out of the Jewish state only began on Saturday.
Several thousand U.S. citizens left Israel via the land border with Jordan, and several hundred more crossed to Egypt via the seldom-used Taba crossing connecting to Eilat over the last two days, according to the official.
The vast majority of those who left Israel via land crossings are finding subsequent air travel. Several thousand more departed by boat to Cyprus via large, privately-organized cruises. That included the evacuation of 1,500 Birthright program participants, whose ship the Israeli Navy escorted.
Only about 400 U.S. citizens have left Israel aboard U.S.-assisted flights since Saturday, which include passenger charter and military flights and a charter to Rome on Tuesday morning, according to the official. Other destinations include Athens and Cyprus.
All U.S. government-facilitated flights have been booked to the designated capacity, but the flights aren’t meant to be full, due to safety concerns. Each flight has had some no-shows due to some passengers being unable to get to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv or to a designated shuttle location due to security conditions.
The official said Tuesday morning’s flight to Rome took place around the same time that missiles were incoming from Iran.
The determination about whether to start to evacuate, and when to end evacuating, is primarily based on the availability of commercial air travel, the official said. The State Department started high-level meetings two or three days after the Israel-Iran conflict erupted on June 13, with surprise Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear assets and government and military targets.
Airlines started cancelling routes in and out of Israel before the Israeli government shut the airspace after Iran’s retaliatory attacks. The State Department was inquiring about charter flight and ship prices and availability, but the official said prohibitive insurance costs meant most carriers weren’t willing to participate.
Ensuring the safety of embassy staff, who are necessary to check passengers onto the flights and facilitate shuttles to the airport when necessary, was also accounted for, according to the official.
The State Department has been in touch with 27,000 people in Israel about evacuating through the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, for which department and embassy officials, including Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador in Jerusalem, have been encouraging people to register.
Palestinian Americans, who have also used the program, have been able to exit through Jordan if travel through Israel was difficult.
The official said that evacuations will stop when the department determines a sufficient number of options for U.S. citizens are available. The official suggested that could be soon, given the ceasefire struck on Tuesday morning.
