Amid the brutal war initiated by Hamas, a terrorist organization, in Israel that has taken the lives of thousands of innocent Israelis, around 400 U.S. citizens were recently allowed to leave Gaza through the Rafah border with Egypt.
Pleased to see that 400 American hostages were released from Gaza today after being detained by Hamas.
We must continue working to ensure safety for Americans overseas without appeasing terrorists.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) November 2, 2023
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented invasion of the Holy Land. Terrorists paraglided into a festival in Israel where they began shooting everyone on sight simply because of their disregard for the state of Israel and disdain for Judaism.
Since then, thousands of people have been killed in the Middle East war and antisemitism has grown rampant across the globe.
Given the situation in the Middle East, 400 Americans currently located in Gaza will be allowed to leave the terrorist-controlled country, as reported by One America News (OAN).
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller recently announced that the department has been in contact with around 400 Americans who have “expressed their desire to leave” Gaza.
Miller said that counting the 400 Americans’ family members, the total amount of individuals expected to flee Hamas-ruled Gaza is close to 1,000.
Along with the Americans, there are various people from Mexico, Hungary, Croatia, South Korea, Azerbaijan, Greece, Chad, Bahrain, Italy, North Macedonia, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, the Netherlands, and Belgium, per OAN.
Upon receiving news that they’d be allowed to leave Gaza, some Americans told reporters that they were “happy and exhausted” to be granted such an ability nearly a month after war broke out in the Middle East.
One such American, Hannen Okal, expressed her gratitude for being allowed to leave Gaza.
“We can’t describe our feelings of getting evacuated,” Okal recently told reporters while waiting at the Rafah border crossing. “But we’re still sad because of what’s happening in Gaza. The war is still there.”
“I left my two sisters, my two brothers, and my mom and my dad,” Okal added. “My mom and my dad do have American citizenship, but they don’t want to leave my other family members, so hopefully we can get them all out of there as soon as we can.”
“It’s a disaster. There is a lack of food, electricity, power, no internet in there, bombing is all over. It’s not safe at all. I don’t know when this situation will end, but it’s really a disaster there,” Okal continued.
House Republicans recently passed a bill allocating $14 billion to America’s greatest ally, Israel. The legislation now heads to the Democrat-controlled Senate for consideration.
