Oct. 12 (UPI) — The Biden administration says the U.S. government will provide charter flights for U.S. citizens trying to leave Israel starting Friday, according to National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
“We are all acutely aware of limited availably on commercial flights out of Israel,” Kirby said at a press briefing Thursday.
“Beginning tomorrow, the United States government will arrange charter flights to provide transportation from Israel to sites in Europe. We’re still working through some of the details of that to assist U.S. citizens and their immediate family members who have for whatever reason not been able to provide commercial transit out of the country,” Kirby said.
Kirby also said the government was exploring ways to evacuate U.S. citizens “by land and by sea.”
Kirby also confirmed that 27 U.S. citizens had been killed.
“We can now update the number of Americans that we know have been killed to 27 and the number of unaccounted for stands at 15,” Kirby said.
Additionally, El Al, Israel’s national airline, will be flying on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath, for the first time since 1982, to carry military reservists and evacuate Israelis.
The company said flights would be covered by the airline and contributing financial donors in the United States.
The company consulted rabbis to determine the religious status of flying on Sabbath and funding the flights.
At least 1,300 Israelis were killed in Hamas’ attack Saturday, according to Israeli officials and at least 1,417 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since Saturday, according to the local Ministry of Health in Gaza.