UN Relief Chief says ‘Hamas is not a terrorist group,’ while admitting UN won’t evacuate Palestinians to safe zones~DENIAL IS A WONDERFUL THING!

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/02/un-relief-chief-says-hamas-is-not-a-terrorist-group-while-admitting-un-wont-evacuate-palestinians-to-safe-zones; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

Oddly, UN Relief Chief Martin Griffiths not only admits that he does not consider Hamas to be a terrorist group, but he also admits that the Israelis did all it could, “to their credit,” to evacuate Gazans to a safe location. “Griffith did not mention the two hostages the IDF rescued from Rafah, proving that Hamas was carrying out their illegal activities within a heavily populated civilian area.”

It is an atrocity that Palestinian civilians in Rafah (and beyond) are intentionally left by the UN to get killed in Israel’s defensive war against Hamas; the UN actually blocks all efforts by Israel to evacuate them, stating that it “would not participate in the forced evacuation of Palestinian civilians into safe zones.” This implies that the UN is in partnership with Hamas in the use of human shields — a tactic used by Hamas that the UN has persistently refused to acknowledge. This exposes the deep level of propaganda against Israel, which is much too sinister for most to grasp. The killing of Palestinian civilians stirs emotions and turns people against Israel, even when Hamas deliberately places them, particularly children, in harm’s way. Neighboring Islamic countries have also refused to admit Palestinian refugees.

News of Griffiths’ admission should be on front pages everywhere in the mainstream media across the globe, but it isn’t, since support for Hamas and the obliteration of the Jewish state “from the River to the Sea” is more prevalent than most would care to either admit or accept.

‘Hamas is not a terrorist group,’ says UN Relief Chief Martin Griffiths,” by Danielle Greyman-Kennard, Jerusalem Post, February 15, 2024:

UN Relief Chief Martin Griffiths told a representative from Sky News on Wednesday that he did not consider Hamas to be a terrorist group.

Asked about the feasibility of Israel’s military goal to eliminate Hamas and disallow the terrorist group from having any governing say in Gaza, Griffiths responded “Hamas is not a terrorist group for us, as you know, it is a political movement." But, I think it is very very difficult to dislodge these groups without a negotiated solution; which includes their aspirations.

“I cannot think of an example offhand of a place where a victory through warfare has succeeded against a well-entrenched group, terrorist or otherwise.”

Speaking of Hamas’s October 7 attack, Griffiths said he had “total understanding” of the “trauma” it had caused Israel, but that Israel would need to build a relationship with its neighbors regardless.

Discussions on military operations in Rafah

Griffiths also claimed that the United Nations was struggling to get aid into Gaza and that Palestinians were nowhere safe to evacuate until now that Israel had begun operations in Rafah.

During the interview, Griffiths insisted that pondering whether Israel would operate in Rafah was an issue that kept him up at night.

Asked if he was in discussions with Israeli officials over the issue of operations in Rafah, Griffiths responded that Israel “to their credit” had daily discussions with UN officials on the issue and that Israeli officials had asked the UN to be involved in evacuating civilians to a safe location.

Griffiths affirmed that the United Nations would not participate in the forced evacuation of Palestinian civilians into safe zones….

Pro-Palestinian Rioters Force Partial Evacuation of White House

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
The “March on Washington for Gaza” on Saturday boiled over into violence at the White House, as thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators stormed the security fence and forced the evacuation of “non-essential employees” from the building. It was not immediately clear whether or not that included Joe Biden, or if he was in the White House at the time.

Porter Anderson of PubPerspectives tweeted Saturday evening, referring to Priscilla Alvarez (@priscialva) and Jim Acosta (@Acosta) of CNN: “@priscialva tells @Acosta that she and others were evacuated at the @WhiteHouse when temporary security fencing took some damage, an official ‘also telling me that objects were thrown over that fence. There was enhanced security’ during the pro-#Palestinian demonstration in #DC. ‘They had prepared for this march to intensify over the course of the afternoon.’” 

The demonstration was ugly from the beginning. NBC reported that “people in the U.S. capital held aloft signs questioning President Joe Biden’s viability as a presidential candidate because of his staunch support for Israel in the nearly 100-day war against Hamas.” They held up signs reading: “No votes for Genocide Joe,” “Biden has blood on his hands,” and “Let Gaza live.” NBC adds that “vendors were also selling South African flags as protesters chanted slogans in support of the country whose accusations of genocide against Israel prompted the International Court of Justice in the Hague, Netherlands, to take up the case.”

The hard-left Common Dreams, meanwhile, noted that “As part of a worldwide day of action protesting the ongoing military assault on Gaza by Israel, activists in Washington, D.C. left a pile of bloodied baby doll parts outside the White House on Saturday as they denounced U.S. complicity in the military campaign that has left over 23,000 Palestinians dead, including over 10,000 children and babies.” Where does Common Dreams get that figure, that 10,000 children and babies have been killed in Gaza? From Hamas. Yet Hamas has been caught lying more than once about the numbers of civilians killed, and of course Common Dreams says nothing about how Hamas deliberately launches attacks from civilian areas in order to draw retaliatory fire that it can exploit for propaganda purposes.

Impervious to the facts, however, as are all leftists, Jodie Evans of CodePink cried: “Biden is hiding inside the White House protected by a fence, military police, and snipers on the roof while the children in besieged Gaza are left unprotected from Israel's genocidal bombing that kills five children every hour. That’s around 117 children murdered daily!”

This business about Israel committing genocide is an outrageous libel, as British barrister Malcolm Shaw demonstrated at the International Court of Justice in the brilliant speech he delivered in Israel’s defense. But the rioters at the White House were way beyond rational appeal, and it is clear that nothing whatsoever will placate them short of a full repudiation of Israel from the Biden White House. Since they are part of the Biden regime’s far-left base, they may just get that.

Related: CAIR Top Dog’s Cheering for Hamas Is Too Much Even for the Biden Regime

Among the participants in the march were Students for Justice in Palestine, which called the Oct. 7 jihad massacres in Israel “a historic win for the Palestinian resistance,” as well as the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), whose cofounder and longtime executive director, Nihad Awad, said that the Oct. 7 attacks made him “happy.”

The Biden regime is now caught between a rock and a hard place. Its base is increasingly open about its hatred for Israel and determination to see it destroyed (that’s what “From the River to the Sea” means: if there is no Israel from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, then there is no Israel at all). Yet at the same time, most American Jews still support the Democrats, and the regime doesn’t want to alienate them, either. Old Joe and his henchmen have tried to placate both sides, sending $10 billion to Iran, Hamas’ financier, and $100 million to Gaza while professing support for Israel’s defensive action, but the demonstrators at the White House made it abundantly clear on Saturday that no half-measures or playing both ends against the middle would be acceptable. The Biden regime is going to have to repudiate Israel, or there will be violence. The message that was being sent, as the non-essential personnel fled the People’s Mansion, was unmistakable.

After Biden’s Pullout, Al Qaeda Built a Path From Afghanistan to Europe

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/11/after-bidens-pullout-al-qaeda-built-a-path-from-afghanistan-to-europe;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Afghan gun battles are now happening on the border of the EU.

After Biden’s withdrawal, the fighting ended in Afghanistan and moved into Europe.

Even before the Taliban takeover, massive traffic of migrants and drugs flowed over the ‘Balkan Route’ that took Afghans into Iran, Turkey, and then Eastern Europe. One of the biggest holes in Europe’s armor was the former Yugoslavia, illegally invaded and partitioned by the Clinton administration, with a large Muslim population in Bosnia and heavy criminal organizations across the former republic that tie together the Russian mob, local gangs, Islamic terrorists, and Turkish, Pakistani and Afghan operations moving weapons and drugs.

All of this comes together at the border between Serbia and Yugoslavia. Parts of Serbia’s border areas have become no-go zones: territories occupied by Muslim gangs. Serbian police raids on “migrants” now look like Israeli military operations with armored vehicles and troops. These raids have rounded up thousands of migrants along with automatic rifles and bombs.

Ever since Hungary began fortifying its border, the Muslim gangs had to work harder to penetrate it in order to continue moving their cargo into the rest of Europe. Faced with a more secure border, the smuggling was taken over by more violent groups. Including Al Qaeda.

Much as drug cartels followed Latin American migrants to America, the Afghan migrants traveling through Iran and Turkey to Eastern Europe were followed by Afghan Jihadis.

In Serbia’s border regions, competition between Afghan smuggling gangs broke out into open warfare with the groups using heavy weaponry against each other. Some of those weapons may have been left behind by the Biden administration when it fled Afghanistan. These gun battles are not just happening in deserted villages or near border fences, but in more populated areas.

The Serbian city of Subotica, with a population of nearly 100,000, has become ground zero for the migrant invasion. In September, Afghan and Moroccan Muslim gangs shot at each other in the parking lot of the multinational Lidl supermarket chain in a suburb of the city. The shooting spree in the crowded parking lot filled with families killed a 16-year-old girl.

The Afghan gangs that prevail in the gun battles that have become common on the route are the ones with the weapons and the training and are likely to be linked to the Haqqani Network.

When the Taliban took Kabul, it was actually the Haqqani Network which unlike most of the Taliban had built up professional units that resembled their NATO opposite numbers. The Haqqani Network had carried out some of the most devastating attacks against American forces in Afghanistan. The Haqqanis gained these capabilities through their close ties to Al Qaeda.

The Al Qaeda ties brought Arab Muslim money and training to the Afghan Jihadis. After the fall of Kabul, it was the Haqqanis who took over and decided who was allowed to reach the airport. The Biden administration had turned over passenger lists to the Al Qaeda group. After being put in charge of security in Kabul, Haqqani figures control security for the new Taliban regime.

Unlike the old Taliban leadership, which is reclusive and isolationist, the Haqqanis, true to their Al Qaeda links, have been focused on building up an international network. The Biden administration has decided that the Haqqanis, despite Al Qaeda, are moderates because they are more open to supporting education for girls and are willing to talk to the United States. But that is what makes the Haqqanis more dangerous because they are interested in the world.

The Haqqani interest appears to have taken the Al Qaeda linked Jihadis all the way to Europe.

György Bakondi, Hungary’s national security adviser, has warned that the Haqqanis won the gun battles and are now in charge of the smuggling route into the European Union.

“Smuggling gangs originating from Afghanistan in Serbia have family ties to the Taliban government in Afghanistan and the Haqqani network, which is a terrorist organization,” he said. “The Taliban secret services are now directly controlling the activities of these Afghan-origin smuggling groups.”

The Hungarian authorities have shown videos of aggressive efforts by Afghan migrants to invade their country. Migrants no longer just try to get across the border, they  “are organized into military-style formations of 20 and armed with marbles, slingshots, and sticks to fight back against Hungarian border guards sent to stop them.” The Afghan smugglers carry assault rifles and open fire, into the air or at border patrol officers, to signal that a crossing is underway.

According to Bakondi, the smugglers have “family ties” to the Haqqanis. The Haqqanis are a large family and they also have extended clan connections. Using those family ties to gain control of the smuggling route into Europe would give them a financial lifeline outside of Afghanistan, whose main current source of income is foreign aid run out of Kabul-based NGOs that are taxed by the Haqqanis, and the ability to move Jihadis into Europe for future attacks.

The United States and European NATO members may have hoped to leave Afghanistan behind, but Afghanistan instead followed NATO. As Islamic terrorists always do. When France left North Africa, an army of North African immigrants followed and transformed France into a terror hub. Pakistanis did the same thing to the United Kingdom and Turks and Kurds to Germany.

America imported vast numbers of Afghan refugees and those we didn’t airlift are migrating to Europe. The Haqqani Network decided who would get on Biden’s evacuation planes. Now it’s deciding who gets to enter Europe. While the Haqqanis are cashing in, they’re also almost certainly bringing their own “family” members to Europe to set up local criminal operations.

The Taliban’s alleged ban on opium production was widely reported by the media, less widely reported was that the Taliban have switched from opium to meth. Despite the Taliban ban, opium production actually rose by a third, and the Taliban are cashing in on an artificial shortage that their regime temporarily created, but the real story is that Afghanistan has become the fastest-growing source of meth in the world. And the Islamists are using Iran as a model.

The Afghan smuggling route is also the transit point for moving meth from Iran to Europe. By controlling the route, the Haqqanis can potentially control both the heroin and the meth market. Human smuggling allows them to also bring in their people so that they control not only the transit of drugs but also the sale and distribution of them across Europe. Jihadis have already used access to the European criminal class to convert its members to Islam and recruit them.

While NATO may have left behind its ‘nation building’ operation to win ‘hearts and minds’ in Europe, the Jihadis it was fighting have followed NATO to Europe to build their own nation, their ‘ummah’, in the heart of the infidel enemy. And they’re winning ‘hearts and minds’ left and right.

Afghanistan is not just a place, it’s where the Afghans are. The Taliban and Al Qaeda were not left behind in the dust of Kabul, they are making the long trek into Europe. The Hungarians have tried to build a wall, but much as the Chinese learned during the Mongolian invasions or the Israelis learned on Oct 7, it’s not enough to build a wall, you have to vigilantly defend it. And given enough time, the barbarians will find a way around it, under it, over it, or through it.

Walls alone do not stop an invasion. Eventually you will have to fight and defeat the invaders.

13 Israeli Hostages, 4 Foreigners Released In Israel-Hamas Exchange

A table is set for hostages being held in the Gaza Strip, in a show of solidarity, in Tel Aviv, Israel Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023. Egyptian officials said Hamas was preparing to release 14 Israeli hostages Saturday for 42 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A table is set for hostages being held in the Gaza Strip, in a show of solidarity, in Tel Aviv, Israel Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023. Egyptian officials said Hamas was preparing to release 14 Israeli hostages Saturday for 42 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

OAN’s Abril Elfi 
2:58 PM – Saturday, November 25, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/13-israeli-hostages-4-foreigners-released-in-israel-hamas-exchange/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

A second group of hostages have been released following a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

On Saturday, 13 Israeli hostages and four Thai foreigners were released from Gaza.

The released hostages have been identified as 67-year-old Shoshan Haran, her daughter Adi Shoham, 38, and Adi’s children Yahel, 3, and Naveh, 8.

Shiri Weiss, 53, and her daughter, Noga Weiss, 18,  Maya Regev, 21, Hila Rotem, 12, Emily Hand, 9, Noam Or, 17, Alma Or, 13, Noam Avigdori, 12, and her mother Sharon Avigdori, 52 were also released.

Dror Or, the father of Noam and Alma Or, is still being held by Hamas in Gaza, according to Israeli officials.

Dror’s wife and the children’s mother, Yonat Or, was killed on October 7th.

The mother of Rotemis is also still being held hostage by Hamas.

According to the Israeli military, the exchange was delayed due to claims that Israel was not upholding the terms of the truce deal.

The operation to free the hostages has been dubbed “Heaven’s Door” by the IDF.

Red Cross vehicles transport hostages to the Rafah Crossing once they’re released from Hamas’s procession.

After that, they’ll be moved and taken to a Southern Israeli airbase. There, the recently freed hostages will undergo brief assessments of their physical and mental health.

They’re given phones to contact family members once finished undergoing health evaluations.

Israel and Hamas have reached a four-day cease-fire agreement. Hamas is set to release the 50 women and children out of roughly 240 people that were abducted from their homes on October 7th.

Israel is to release 150 Palestinian prisoners in return, a large number of which are being held on suspicion of attempted murder.

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Israel-Hamas war update: Gaza babies evacuate from Shifa hospital

Gaza war update: 31 premature babies were transferred from Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital to another in the South. Those 'very sick' babies are currently in Rafah and will be transported to Egypt on Monday. The Associated Press reports the infants suffered from dehydration, hypothermia, and even sepsis. The Palestinian Red Crescent and UN agencies evacuated the babies to a safer location. 

DNC HQ Evacuated As Police Clash With Protestors Demanding Cease-Fire

Jewish Peace Activists Rally Near Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 15: Members of U.S. Capitol Police take a protester away from the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee during a demonstration against the war between Israel and Hamas on November 15, 2023 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now held a candlelight vigil to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Members of U.S. Capitol Police take a protester away from the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee during a demonstration against the war between Israel and Hamas on November 15, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now held a candlelight vigil to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

OAN’s Abril Elfi 
2:50 PM – Thursday, November 16, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/dnc-hq-evacuated-as-police-clash-with-protestors-demanding-cease-fire/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Authorities have clashed with protestors demanding a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas-Gaza conflict outside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

On Wednesday, law enforcement arrested hundreds of protesters demanding a cease-fire in the Hamas-Israel war outside the DNC Washington headquarters.

According to authorities, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Representative Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) were among those inside the headquarters as the clash between protesters and police sparked.

United States Capitol Police said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that a “large group of illegal protesters…have cleared out, but USCP officers will stay on scene out of an abundance of caution.” 

They previously put the number of demonstrators at about 150 and said they were “violently protesting in the area.”

Six officers were treated for injuries as a result of the demonstration, and one person was arrested and accused of assault on an officer, Capitol Police said on X.

According to Capitol Police, all lawmakers were evacuated from the location for their protection.

IfNotNow, an organization that bills itself as “American Jews organizing our community to end U.S. support for Israel’s apartheid system,” stated it was present at the rally and accused officers of being harsh toward protestors.

IfNotNow spokesperson Eva Borgwardt released a statement saying the protest was “nonviolent” and a “moral act of civil disobedience to call on Democrats to support a cease-fire and an end to our government’s funding of violence against Palestinian civilians by Netanyahu’s far-right government.”

Representative Sean Casten (D-Ill.), posted on X that he was “rescued” from the DNC building by “armed officers” who “did not know the protestors’ intent; they knew only that Members of Congress were inside, could not leave and that protests would not let police through.”

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________________________________________________________

Chaos at DNC HQ When Pro-Palestinian Rioters Attempt to Break In

659f2b46-bffb-43ac-acfd-4f5c7c5a120b-1052x615.jpg

Chaos erupted outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters Wednesday evening when pro-Palestinian protesters became violent as they called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) estimated that approximately 150 people were "illegally and violently protesting" near the DNC headquarters on Capitol Hill. 

Six officers were injured during the melee, according to the USCP, with either minor cuts, pepper-spray burns, or being attacked by rioters.

CNN reports that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, and Rep. Pete Aguilar were inside the building at the time of the riot, and had to be evacuated.

Around 150 officers and a minimum of 50 police cruisers from The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) were also on the scene. Videos of the chaos were shared on social media.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) reported that the situation was so bad that the Capitol went into lockdown.

The violent mob of pro-Palestinian rioters stands in contrast to the peaceful March for Israel that took place on the National Mall a day prior. 

Ask yourself why.

U.S. prepares mass evacuation of Americans from Middle East, including 600,000 from Israel

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/10/us-prepares-mass-evacuation-of-americans-from-middle-east-including-600000-from-israel;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The US is preparing for a possible mass evacuation of Americans from the Middle East, including 600,000 from Israel.

In an Associated Press update:

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group held talks on Wednesday in Beirut with senior Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad figures in a key meeting of three top anti-Israel militant groups amid the war raging in Gaza.

In neighboring Syria, meanwhile, state media said an Israeli airstrike hit the international airport in the northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday, damaging its runway and putting it out of service.

According to the Washington Post, the Biden administration believes it “would be irresponsible not to have a plan for everything.” Imagine the shock of Americans whose loved ones were killed in Afghanistan and those who still have loved ones stuck in Afghanistan, when they read that line.

The Democrats helped create the current crisis in the Middle East (and threats beyond that region). They emboldened Iran and helped fill its coffers through an outrageous deal that was based on lies and Obama’s backroom deals. Consider for a moment more recent activity:

  • It was discovered that Iranian spies have infiltrated the Biden regime.
  • The Biden regime’s Iran envoy Robert Malley helped “fund, support, and direct an Iranian intelligence operation designed to influence the United States and allied governments.”
  • Right before the Hamas attack on Israel, Iran seized upon a chance to get even more money from Joe Biden.
  • In an extreme act of insensitivity and even provocation to patriotic Americans, Biden announced the deal to send $6,000,000,000 to Iran in exchange for hostages on September 11, of all dates.
  • The Biden regime sent $148 million to Palestinian areas weeks before the attack on Israel.
  • Biden’s main goal of his Israel trip was to secure entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, not to help fortify Israel against its worst enemies.

There’s a pattern with the Biden administration that it is rooted in a longtime alliance with Palestinians. It prioritizes their interests over those of Israel. Even in Maui, Biden vacationed while Maui burned.

It would be a relief if Americans can be safely transported out of Israel and the surrounding region to safety. But how long can America stay safe on their own soil with a wide-open Southern border? National security should be a top priority; it is not under the Biden administration.

Biden has also been a stumbling block of interference in delaying the war on Hamas, buying the savage group more time to prepare, in cahoots with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hizballah, and Iran.

“US prepares to evacuate 600,000 Americans from Israel,” by Tony Diver, Telegraph, October 24, 2023:

The United States is preparing evacuation plans for up to 600,000 Americans in Israel in the event of a full-scale ground war in the region.

US officials have created contingency plans involving a major exodus of American citizens from the area, as Israel is poised to send ground troops into the Gaza Strip.

The Biden administration believes it “would be irresponsible not to have a plan for everything,” although a full-scale airlift is still thought to be a worst-case scenario, according to the Washington Post.

The State Department believes there are around 600,000 American citizens in Israel, although many are dual nationals.

Another 86,000 were believed to be in Lebanon when Hamas launched terror attacks on October 7, killing 1,400 people in Israel.

The UK and other Western states are also in contact with their nationals in the region, and both the State Department and British Foreign Office have advised against travel to both Israel and Gaza…..

U.S. Embassy To Evacuate Americans Trying To Leave Israel

ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-US-DIPLOMACY
An Israeli flag is displayed in front of a building near a road sign for the US embassy in Jerusalem on September 27, 2023. The United States said on September 27 it would start letting Israelis visit without visas, after what it said were successful efforts by its ally to address concerns it discriminates against Arab Americans, an assessment contested by some lawmakers. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN’s Abril Elfi 
11:57 AM – Sunday, October 15, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/u-s-embassy-to-evacuate-americans-trying-to-leave-israel/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The United States Embassy announced that Americans who want to leave Israel and escape the ongoing conflict will have the opportunity to do so by sea.

On Sunday, the Embassy announced in a security alert that a ship would leave Haifa, which is a northern Israeli port city, on Monday, October 16th, and arrive in the Port of Limassol in Cyprus. 

“The U.S. government is assisting U.S. nationals and their immediate family members with a valid travel document to depart Haifa via sea for Cyprus on October 16, 2023,” the security alert said. “Boarding begins at 0800 AM local time. U.S. citizens must arrive at Haifa port passenger terminal no later than 0900 AM local time.” 

According to the advisory, before boarding the ship, Americans must first sign a written agreement committing to repay the U.S. government for their travel expenses. 

The embassy also said that preparations are subject to change, depending on Israel’s security situation, and the government cannot guarantee any interested parties’ complete safety. 

Americans will be in charge of planning hotels, flights, and travel to and from Cyprus. Meanwhile, U.S. embassy employees will be available to offer assistance, and chartered flights are currently being “arranged.”

The trip from Haifa to Cyprus will reportedly take between 10 and 12 hours.  

This comes as the White House and State Department announced on Friday that they had launched chartered aircraft from Israel to Athens and Frankfurt, in order to “facilitate the safe departure of thousands of U.S. citizens.”

According to reports, additional flights have been scheduled between Tel Aviv and Athens until at least October 19th and more than 400 Americans have already signed up for the first flight. 

John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House, also claimed that the government was still considering additional strategies for evacuating Americans.

“We’re just trying to add to the options,” Kirby said. 

Media reports stated that between 160,000 and 170,000 Americans are currently residing in Israel as tourists, residents, or in other capacities, including up to 600 American citizens in Gaza. 

The State Department issued a Level 3 travel advisory for Israel, advising Americans to “reconsider travel” to the nation. 

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