State Department says it has provided guidance to more than 25,000 people in Israel, West Bank and Iran

The State Department noted Friday it had provided information and sponsorship to over people in Israel the West Bank or Iran seeking guidance on what to do and how to get out When pressed on the matter during a State Department briefing Friday afternoon State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce declined to go into further detail about how a multitude of of those people are American citizens or any other breakdown of the number News of the number of people the State Department has assisted comes after the agency stated the formation of a task force to assist Americans looking to leave Israel or other Middle Eastern countries Bruce noted during a press briefing Friday that the United States does not intend to help movement American citizens directly from Iran and they will have to make it out first before they can be assisted by the leadership TUGBOATS CRUISE SHIPS AND FLIGHTS ISRAEL BEGINS CRISIS EVACUATION OF CITIZENS AMID IRAN WARUnited States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee revealed earlier this week the embassy in Jerusalem was working on evacuation flights cruise ship departures for Americans trying to leave Israel Huckabee distributed his report hours after the U S Embassy in Jerusalem wrote in its own X post that there was no announcement about assisting private U S citizens to depart at this time but it simultaneously acknowledged the Department of State is constantly planning for contingencies to assist with private U S citizens departure from emergency areas So far the U S has not engaged in a large-scale effort to help Americans get out of Israel But according to ABC News the military did assist in flying specific American diplomats and family members from the U S Embassy this week JEWISH AMERICANS EVACUATED FROM ISRAEL AS DESANTIS SPONSORS RESCUE FLIGHTS TO TAMPAPrivate flights for American citizens did begin landing in Florida Thursday after Florida Gov Ron DeSantis dispatched four planes to pick up U S citizens stuck in Israel during the ongoing violence Other private options to get out of Israel are also available On Monday the State Department raised its journey warning for Israel to the highest level achievable