Israel is marking Monday with a solemn commemoration of the October 7 attack by Hamas exactly one year ago that killed more than 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages. According to reports CNNhundreds of people gathered at the Nova festival site where the last attack took place, and additional memorial services were held in Tel Aviv and Kibbutz Nir Oz, where one in four residents were killed or taken hostage by Hamas. It was taken.
Overall, Israel's ensuing war on Gaza killed more than 41,000 people and led to an escalation of the conflict. According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the country is currently facing a war on seven fronts, including Iran and its proxies Hezbollah and Hamas. Israel's defense minister told CNN that “everything is on the table” after Iran bombarded the country with missiles last week.
A State Department spokesperson said the United States continued to arrange flights for American citizens to leave Lebanon over the weekend, bringing the total number of evacuated Americans, lawful permanent residents, and their families to about 900.
“Today another flight departed from Beirut to Istanbul,” spokesman Matthew Miller said at a news conference. “There were approximately 150 passengers on board, including U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents and their families.”
Miller pointed out that none of the flights planned by the United States were full, with a total of eight flights with 300 seats each, for a total of 2,400 seats, of which about 900 were filled.
Additionally, the United States continues to reserve seats on commercial aircraft for American citizens to depart from Lebanon, with a total of 868 seats reserved.
“We don't know exactly how many of those seats have been filled because we don't have exact numbers, but we do know that a significant percentage of the 868 seats have been filled,” Miller said.
The spokesperson also said that approximately 8,500 Americans living in Lebanon have contacted the State Department seeking information about possible deportation, while others have chosen not to leave.
“We have advised them to leave and we have made these seats available and will continue to make them available as long as there is demand and as long as the security situation requires. I intend to,” Miller said. of Americans living in Lebanon are “evaluating their situation every day.”
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