A Level 4 'Do Not Travel' advisory remains in effect from the State Department as thousands of Americans in the Middle East struggle to return.
BAR AM, ISRAEL - JULY 16: A rocket fired by a Multiple Launch Rocket System is launched against an Hezbollah target in South Lebanon July 16, 2006 from a forward base on the outskirts of the northern Israeli community of Bar Am.
Earlier in the day, eight Israeli workers were killed and at least 19 more people were wounded when Hezbollah hit Haifa with Iranian-produced Fagr missiles. remains in effect from the State Department as thousands of Americans in the Middle East struggle to return home amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran. On Thursday, American Airlines and United Airlines suspended more flights to the Middle East, pausing service to Qatar and the UAE. “We will continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and will adjust our operation further as needed," said a statement from American Airlines. Immediately following the onset of attacks, Israel closed its main international airport in Tel Aviv, canceling all flights with no timeline for reopening. Evacuation options remain risky. Crossings by land into Jordan or Egypt to catch flights home from there leave travelers exposed on the highways and checkpoints for hours, leaving them vulnerable to a missile attack. Some Americans are chartering boats to Cyprus. Countries like Germany and Poland are evacuating their citizens from Israel. While the United States has started evacuating some diplomats from its embassy in Jerusalem, they're not yet helping private citizens. "When it really hit me and I got annoyed about that today is when my friend who’s with me who’s German said that his country is working it and he'll probably leave tomorrow...I know there’s a lot going on I know it’s a war zone. I really don't want the U.S. to strand us here," said Warren Cohn, an American who flew to Tel Aviv last week for work. "I miss my wife and kids terribly, I want to get back there." Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has sent four charter planes to evacuate 1,500 stranded Americans who made it from Israel to Cyprus, primarily participants of the Birthright Israel program. At this point in the conflict, more than 600 people have died in Iran and 24 in Israel. Some of Iran's ballistic missiles have slipped past Israel's aerial defenses, hitting central areas of Tel Aviv. "It hit pretty close to home when you go to a cafe and the next day you go there and it’s not there anymore," said Bracha Banayan, a New Yorker who had her flight home from Tel Aviv canceled. "There’s also a risk of trying to leave right now, I’m not sure the airspace is so safe I also, I feel like I should be here right now. It’s honestly really hard to process like one second I could have been standing here and actually hit or potentially killed and that’s like a really scary feeling," Banayan said. Banayan, founder & CEO of IVDrips, was in Tel Aviv working on expanding her business into Israel. She's decided to take the shelter-in-place route and expand her trip. "There’s a also a risk of trying to leave right now, I’m not sure the airspace is so safe," Banayan explained. Banayan is also an example of how amid the war, the missiles and the danger, regular life goes on. She's continuing to chronicle her journey to "find a husband" and shake up dating culture though videos on Instagram. Even though the circumstances have changed, and sirens shuffle her into bomb shelters multiple times a day, her mission remains the same.
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