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Tugboats, cruise ships and flights: Israel begins emergency evacuation of citizens amid Iran war
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JERUSALEM – An emergency flight carrying Israelis stranded overseas due to the fighting with Iran landed in Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning, part of a special government operation to get them home.
Some 100,000 to 150,000 Israelis were abroad when Israel Defense Forces fighter jets began striking Iran overnight on Thursday – seeking to destroy the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and its cache of conventional weapons.
Israel immediately closed its airspace, halting all flights into the country, but some people have been so desperate to get home – despite the volleys of deadly ballistic missiles that have caused widespread damage and fatalities – that they have found some unconventional routes.
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The first flight of Operation «Safe Return» landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel on June 18, 2025. The operation, led by the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety together with the Israel Airports Authority and the Israel Air Force, is designed to bring home Israeli passengers who were forced to remain abroad due to flight cancellations. (Israel Airport Authority/TPS-IL)
Yaakov Katz, an author and former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, had his flight from the U.S. rerouted to Cyprus on Thursday night as Israel launched its opening strike on Iran.
In a lengthy social media post, he described being stuck for two days before finding a tugboat to take him and eight others back to Israel.
«Nine of us squeezed onto a vessel captained by Eli, a veteran Israeli sailor who didn’t ask questions – just took the wheel,» he wrote in the post.
Speaking to Fox News Digital, Katz said the boat ride was not simple.
Yaakov Katz boarded a tugboat in Cyprus to get home to Israel amid war with Iran. (Yaakov Katz)
«I can’t say it was the best conditions, but it was definitely doable for 17 hours,» he described, adding that he wanted to be with his wife and four children while «our country is at war.»
«The thought of not being at home and not being with my family was very difficult, and despite the risks and, of course, the war itself, there’s no place I think any Israeli would want to be at a time like this,» said Katz.
Shimi Grossman, a volunteer with rescue agency Zaka, also said he could not wait.
He has spent the last two days making his way from the U.S. to London, then to Sharm al-Sheikh in Egypt. Speaking to Fox News Digital from there, Grossman said he was now planning to take a taxi to Israel’s southern border crossing in Taba.
«I needed to get back so I could help the people in Israel,» said the medical volunteer.
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Israel launched its first rescue flights for Israelis stranded abroad during Israel’s war with Iran. (Fabrizio Gandolfo/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Others have waited tensely, watching as the missiles hit the country, sending civilians running into shelters, toppling buildings and killing more than 20 people.
«It’s torture,» Josh Hantman, who was watching from London, told Fox News Digital.
On Tuesday, a missile hit a bus depot less than a mile from his home. «Watching a ballistic missile, the size of a bus falling near your home where you know your wife and small kids are, it’s incredibly difficult,» he said.
Transport Minister Miri Regev said the government was working on a detailed plan to bring all Israel’s citizens home.
Domestic airlines, she said, had already been relocated abroad and were waiting for an all-clear to return with passengers. Regev also said a «maritime route» from Cyprus and Greece would soon open. Israelis have been warned from traveling through neighboring Egypt and Jordan.
For Uzi Sofer, the rescue flights came too late. On a business trip to Boston last week, he was returning to celebrate his daughter’s wedding on Wednesday.
Israel’s air defense targets Iranian missiles in the sky of Tel Aviv in Israel, on June 16, 2025. (MATAN GOLAN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
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«I was supposed to fly back on Friday for the wedding this week,» he said, describing how he managed to reach Budapest, Hungary, but was now waiting for a rescue flight.
Realizing her father would not make it back in time, however, his daughter decided to postpone her nuptials until next month.
«I’m not stressed now, but I still want to be in Israel, I want to be with my family,» he said, adding, «God willing, in July, I will get to celebrate twice – the wedding and Israel’s victory over Iran.»
INTERNACIONAL
WATCH: Gabbard’s Obama bombshell has GOP demanding accountability while Dems question timing as ‘distraction’
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After reports that top officials from the Obama administration allegedly orchestrated a coordinated attempt to sabotage President Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory, GOP lawmakers are calling for transparency and accountability, while their Democratic colleagues are questioning the timing and credibility of the new claims.
Trump’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, released a trove of intelligence documents beginning last week that Gabbard has said show former President Barack Obama and some of his closest advisors promoted a «contrived narrative» that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to sabotage Trump.
However, Democrats have insisted that congressional investigations already prove that Russia did help Trump in the 2016 election, while also questioning the timing of the allegations due to pressure on Trump to release more Epstein files.
«It is profoundly dishonest, and it’s dangerous,» Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told Fox News Digital, in reference to the allegations from Gabbard. «What I have urged the administration to do is engage in radical transparency, make it all public and expose just how much the Obama administration knew what they were doing – that they knew they were lying. I think anybody that violated the law needs to be held accountable.»
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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, calls for «radical transparency» in response to Gabbard’s release of intelligence files alleging Obama-era meddling. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
But Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff told Fox News Digital he thinks the allegations are moot, pointing to former FBI Director Robert Mueller’s 2019 report, which he said «documented Russia’s efforts to help denigrate Hillary Clinton, which gave a boost to the Trump campaign.
«I think what Gabbard and her staff are doing is dishonest,» he added.
However, Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford argued it has «long been established» that the Steele dossier was «clearly a Clinton plant» and that the Clinton campaign was actually «cooperating with the Russians to be able to actually use the Russians to be able to interfere with President Trump’s campaign.»
«What Tulsi Gabbard is pulling out is to say, ‘How deep did this go into the White House that they knew about the Steele Dossier, they knew it was a Clinton document. When did they start pushing this out, and what official resources were they using to try to add validity to this to be able to undercut the election?’» Lankford said.
«We got a long way to go still, but it’s good to be able to get all information out, to be able to pull it out there and to say, ‘Let’s let everybody look at it and let the chips fall where they may.’»
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Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard addresses the press at the White House after declassifying documents she says prove a «contrived» Trump-Russia narrative. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | Fox News Digital)
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said he believed Gabbard was doing the right thing, also expressing hope for extreme transparency amid the alarming allegations.
«Part of what this election was about, it was about transparency and government accountability. And that’s exactly what [Gabbard] is trying to do, and that’s exactly what the Trump administration is trying to do,» Scott said. «Let’s get the people the facts. Let’s follow where the facts are. If somebody’s done anything, we’ll hold them accountable. So, i think the right process is what’s happening.»
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., a former CIA analyst, questioned the timing of Gabbard’s release of the information, saying even her 10-year-old nephew understood the move as «a dodge and a distraction» to get eyes off the ongoing Epstein controversy. Amid Gabbard’s document release at the beginning of last week, Trump has been facing calls from within the GOP for the release of more documents and information pertaining to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., a former CIA analyst, questioned the timing of Gabbard’s disclosures, calling them a «distraction» amid calls for transparency with the Jeffrey Epstein files. (Associated Press )
«President Trump had four years in his first term, and all the time since then, to go after this issue, and he picks the same day that his name appears in the Epstein files to talk about Barack Obama,» Slotkin told Fox News Digital. «American people are not dumb. Like, we get it. Trump wanted to talk about something different. I have to see these reports, and see how they’re sourced. … I like to read and make my own assessment. But the timing can’t be missed. The president is trying to dodge and distract you.»
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While partisan affiliation may play a part in how lawmakers and the broader public view the Obama allegations released by Gabbard, Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., said he thinks the issue «transcends» party affiliation.
«Republican, Democrat, I mean, you know, this is something that transcends all that. This is really important,» Boozman told Fox News Digital. «Hopefully we’ll have open transparency so people will understand what’s going on. And whatever it is, I’m sure Congress will be involved, and certainly the Justice Department is involved. So, I think these are all good things.»
El director de la Agencia de la ONU para los Refugiados Palestinos (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, sostuvo este sábado que la reanudación de los lanzamientos aéreos de ayuda humanitaria en la Franja de Gaza es “costosa, ineficaz y puede inclusive matar a civiles hambrientos”, según sus declaraciones en la red social X.
Lazzarini subrayó que “el lanzamiento aéreo de ayuda no pondrá fin al hambre que se agrava” en el territorio palestino, afectado por una severa catástrofe humanitaria.
El viernes, un funcionario israelí indicó a la agencia AFP que los lanzamientos aéreos de asistencia humanitaria comenzarían nuevamente de forma inminente en Gaza, con Jordania y los Emiratos Árabes Unidos encargándose de la coordinación logística. El ministro de Exteriores emiratí, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, afirmó en X que “la situación humanitaria en Gaza alcanzó un nivel crítico y sin precedentes”, anunciando que “los lanzamientos de ayuda se reanudarán inmediatamente”.
La situación humanitaria en Gaza continúa empeorando, mientras organizaciones internacionales alertan sobre un creciente escenario de desnutrición, especialmente entre la infancia.
“Una hambruna provocada por el hombre solo puede ser resuelta por la voluntad política”, subrayó Lazzarini, y reclamó que la ONU pueda intervenir “a gran escala y sin obstáculos” en la zona.
El gobierno de Israel enfrenta una presión internacional creciente por la dramática situación humanitaria de la población gazatí. Israel impuso un bloqueo total sobre la entrada de ayuda el 2 de marzo, después de la ruptura de las negociaciones para prolongar el alto el fuego en el conflicto, que lleva 21 meses.
El ejército israelí comunicó el viernes que “Israel no limita el número de camiones que entran a la Franja de Gaza”, y argumentó que las “organizaciones humanitarias internacionales y las agencias de las Naciones Unidas no recogen la ayuda cuando ingresa al territorio palestino”.
Sin embargo, numerosas organizaciones en la zona denuncian desde hace meses que enfrentan grandes restricciones y dificultades para distribuir la ayuda dentro de Gaza, a la vez que el acceso por carretera permanece bajo un estricto control israelí. Cogat, organismo del Ministerio de Defensa israelí responsable de los asuntos civiles en los territorios palestinos, aseguró el sábado que había 600 camiones esperando ser descargados por organizaciones internacionales.
Paralelamente, se desarrolla una operación de ayuda a través de la Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, respaldada por Israel y Estados Unidos, aunque esta ha recibido duras críticas internacionales tras incidentes en los que cientos de palestinos murieron por disparos durante la distribución de ayuda.
El sábado se intensificaron los llamamientos internacionales para buscar alternativas que permitan entregar alimentos de manera efectiva a más de dos millones de habitantes de Gaza, con el Reino Unido comprometiéndose a apoyar los lanzamientos aéreos. Downing Street comunicó que el primer ministro británico, Keir Starmer, anunció la colaboración con Jordania y otros socios regionales para reanudar los lanzamientos y evacuar a menores que requieran atención médica urgente.
En una conversación telefónica con el presidente francés, Emmanuel Macron, y el canciller alemán, Friedrich Merz, el primer ministro británico también abordó el impulso de un plan para un alto el fuego inmediato y una paz duradera en la Franja, basada en la solución de dos Estados. Cuando esté preparado dicho plan, los dirigentes aseguraron que lo abrirán a otros aliados internacionales.
Más de 200 diputados británicos instaron recientemente a Starmer a reconocer oficialmente el Estado palestino en la próxima conferencia de Naciones Unidas en Nueva York, auspiciada por Francia y Arabia Saudí, pero el líder laborista sostiene que el reconocimiento solo es útil “como parte de un plan de paz más amplio”.
Desde el inicio de la ofensiva israelí, tras el ataque del grupo terrorista Hamas en octubre de 2023, han muerto 59.733 palestinos, la mayoría civiles, según el Ministerio de Salud de Gaza gobernado por Hamas. El ataque de Hamas causó la muerte de 1.219 personas en Israel, de acuerdo con cifras oficiales.
El grupo de activistas Freedom Flotilla informó que su barco Handala se acercó más que su antecesor Madleen, que fue interceptado y abordado por las fuerzas israelíes el mes anterior, en un intento de entregar ayuda directa a Gaza a pesar del bloqueo naval israelí. El ejército israelí señaló que estaba preparado para hacer valer el “bloqueo marítimo de seguridad legal”.
La comunidad internacional continúa buscando medidas más eficaces para auxiliar a la población palestina ante una crisis alimentaria y humanitaria sin precedentes. Mientras tanto, el debate sobre la mejor forma de aliviar el sufrimiento civil y garantizar el acceso de ayuda esencial sigue sin resolverse.
(Con información de AFP)
Middle East,Military Conflicts,KEREM SHALOM CROSING
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