Americans fleeing Israel on evacuation flights to Florida
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Americans fleeing the deadly conflict between Israel and Iran are heading back to the U.S. thanks, in part, to Florida officials.
Early Wednesday, a cruise ship transported roughly 1,500 people from Israel to Cyprus. From there, some boarded a plane bound for Tampa.
Carrie Best-Lary, from Broward County, was one of those transported to Cyprus. She had traveled to Israel for a 10-day trip sponsored by the Birthright Israel Foundation, just ahead of her 50th birthday.
Now, instead of reconnecting with her Jewish identity, she's fleeing back to the United States after barrages of Iranian missile strikes targeted Israel, following Israel's missile strikes on Iran.
'We saw explosions … we saw missiles,' she said. 'We heard sirens … we went to (the) shelter the minute we got that notification.'
'It's a very scary time,' she continued.
Birthright Israel officials said Gov. Ron DeSantis helped coordinate four wide-body planes to fly all U.S. participants to Tampa. From there, they will be able to continue on to their respective hometowns.
Tampa Jewish Community Relations Council Chair Jonathan Ellis said he's proud of the effort made by Florida's governor, as 1,500 Americans now have a path to escape the conflict and come back home.
'Florida has the resources to make sure that American citizens can get back to the U.S. that were stranded in Israel,' he said. 'You have to commend him for the actions he's taking.'
'Look, Gov. DeSantis has been a tremendous friend to the state of Israel,' he added. 'He has a commitment to, not only the state of Israel, but to the citizens of the state of Florida and to the American citizens.'
Countries all over the world, meanwhile, are evacuating their nationals from Israel and Iran by air, land and sea as conflict rages between the bitter rivals.
Days of attacks and reprisals by the two enemies have shuttered airspace across the Middle East, severely disrupting commercial flights and leaving people unable to get in or out of the region easily. Some governments are even using land borders to get their citizens out by road to countries where airports remain open.
Thousands of foreigners have already left since the conflict started last Friday when Israel launched surprise missile strikes on Iran.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
32 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Trump TikTok Executive Order Sparks MAGA Backlash: 'Brazenly Illegal'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. President Donald Trump's decision to extend the deadline for TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, to sell its United States operations has provoked an intense backlash from prominent conservative voices. The new executive order, signed on Thursday, grants ByteDance an additional 90 days, until September 17, 2025, to divest TikTok or face a ban. Why It Matters Thursday's extension marked the third time Trump has delayed enforcement. The first came via executive order on January 20, his first day in office, after the platform briefly went dark when a national ban approved by Congress and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court took effect. The second extension came in April, when White House officials believed they were close to a deal to spin off TikTok into a new U.S.-owned company. The agreement ultimately collapsed after China withdrew following Trump's tariff announcement. What To Know With each new extension, a U.S. ban on TikTok seems increasingly unlikely in the near future. But the decision to keep the app running by executive order has sparked criticism, even from some of the president's own allies. "This is lawless—nothing in statute or otherwise permits the President to extend the deadline like this," Heath Mayo, founder of conservative group Principles First, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. National Review journalist Charles C. W. Cooke called the move "brazenly illegal," while conservative commentator Guy Benson was even more direct: "This is illegal." Even those generally aligned with Trump's policy goals took issue with the method. "Um there's nothing in the law (or the Constitution) that allows for this," wrote Jonah Goldberg, co-founder of conservative news outlet The Dispatch, on X. The inaction is also prompting unease on Capitol Hill. Mississippi Republican Senator Roger Wicker, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told the Washington Examiner that he was "not overly delighted" about the delay. "I don't think it's a good idea," Wicker said. "I think there is growing frustration," Illinois Republican Representative Darin LaHood, who serves on both the House Intelligence Committee and the Select Committee on China, told the Examiner. "The national security concerns and vulnerabilities are still there, and they have not gone away. I would argue they've almost become more enhanced in many ways." The administration has defended the delay as part of a larger diplomatic and strategic approach to U.S.-China relations. Trump told reporters on Thursday he would "probably" extend the ban and suggested he would need approval from Chinese President Xi Jinping. Americans are now more divided on how to handle TikTok than they were two years ago. While lawmakers largely agreed, passing the law with overwhelming bipartisan support in the House (360–58) and Senate (79–18) last year, the public has begun to take a different view. The original deadline was set for January 19. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that approximately one-third of Americans supported a TikTok ban, down from 50 percent in March 2023. Roughly one-third said they would oppose a ban, and a similar percentage said they were unsure. Among those who said they supported banning the social media platform, about 8 in 10 cited concerns over users' data security being at risk as a major factor in their decision, according to the report. Photo illustration of the TikTok logo on a phone screen backed by the American flag. Photo illustration of the TikTok logo on a phone screen backed by the American flag. Photo byWhat People Are Saying President Donald Trump, Thursday on Truth Social: "I've just signed the executive order extending the deadline for the TikTok closing by 90 days (September 17, 2025). Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, told the Associated Press: "An executive order can't sidestep the law, but that's exactly what the president is trying to do." What Happens Next For now, TikTok continues to function for its 170 million users in the U.S., and tech giants Apple, Google, and Oracle were persuaded to continue offering and supporting the app, on the promise that the Justice Department would not use the law to seek potentially steep fines against them.
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Florida Condo Owners Hit With Skyrocketing HOA Fees Find Relief as Gov. DeSantis Signs New Bill Into Law
Florida condominium owners will see some relief after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a sweeping condominium reform bill on Wednesday. HB 913 is aimed at helping condo owners battling skyrocketing HOA fees. With the governor's signature, it now becomes law and will take effect on July 1. Following the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo in Surfside, which killed 98 people, condos over 30 years of age (and three stories tall) got hit with new safety laws requiring 'milestone' inspections and beefing up reserve funds for repairs and maintenance. HB 913 is meant to help owners with costs without sacrificing safety. 'This bill comes from a lot of listening to owners talk about how they know their building needs to be safe but pleading that the process be fair and workable,' state Sen. Jennifer Bradley (R-Fleming Island), who led the effort to address condo owners' concerns, said during bill debate. 'With each milestone inspection, our condos are becoming safer, but financial impacts are reverberating.' In April, both chambers of the Florida Legislature voted unanimously to pass House Bill 913, addressing endless complaints over the rising fees for condominium owners, despite pushback from DeSantis. Essentially, the bill would aid condominium associations in setting up credit lines and investing funds that would contribute to necessary building repairs instead of immediately looking to owners for the money. 'You had people that were going to be forced out of their condos potentially because of legislation that had come down the pipe,' DeSantis said during a May 20 appearance in Tampa, referencing recent safety laws, as reported by NBC Miami. The bill will help some condominium associations in certain situations use special assessments, lines of credit, or loans to fund their reserves, and to pool reserve accounts—hopefully, taking the pressure off of condo owners who were suddenly faced with exorbitant fees. The 191-page bill had additional provisions: Prohibits a person whose community association manager license is revoked from having an indirect or direct ownership interest in, or being an employee, a partner, an officer, a director, or a trustee of, a community association management firm for a specified time frame. Requires a licensee to create and maintain an online licensure account with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Requires a community association manager to identify on his or her online licensure account certain information. Requires a licensee to provide specific information on his or her online licensure account. Requires that such information be updated within a specified time frame. Requires a community association management firm to identify on its online licensure account the community association managers it employs to provide community association management services. The bill is aimed at providing transparency and accountability to avoid another Surfside condo collapse. Owners hope to see relief fast. The sharp rise in condo fees has had an effect on older condos for sale. Homeowners are finding themselves saddled with rising HOAs, in addition to being unable to sell their condo. 'Prospective buyers are more cautious now, often demanding structural inspection reports before making a purchase,' , director of new development sales at Compass Development Marketing Group, told 'This caution has led buyers to shift their interest into newer buildings since older buildings' costs are higher. Newer condo products are selling at higher prices.' New Homes Are Flying Off the Shelves in These 4 Metros—Defying the National Trend of Sluggish Sales Mapped: States Most at Risk for Hurricane Damage 7 Bedrooms Is the New 4 for Luxury Living in New England Suburbs
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump is silent about Juneteenth on a day he previously honored as president
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump honored Juneteenth in each of his first four years as president, even before it became a federal holiday. He even claimed once to have made it 'famous.' But on this year's Juneteenth holiday on Thursday, the usually talkative president kept silent about a day important to Black Americans for marking the end of slavery in the country he leads again. No words about it from his lips, on paper or through his social media site. Asked whether Trump would commemorate Juneteenth in any way, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: 'I'm not tracking his signature on a proclamation today. I know this is a federal holiday. I want to thank all of you for showing up to work. We are certainly here. We're working 24/7 right now.' Asked in a follow-up question whether Trump might recognize the occasion another way or on another day, Leavitt said, 'I just answered that question for you.' Trump's silence was a sharp contrast from his prior acknowledgement of the holiday. Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States by commemorating June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas. Their freedom came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln liberated slaves in the Confederacy by signing the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War. Trump's quiet on the issue also deviated from White House guidance that Trump planned to sign a Juneteenth proclamation. Leavitt didn't explain the change. Trump held no public events Thursday, but he shared statements about Iran, the TikTok app and Fed chairman Jerome Powell on his social media site. In 2017, Trump invoked the 'soulful festivities and emotional rejoicing' that swept through the Galveston crowd when a major general delivered the news that all enslaved people were free. He told the Galveston story in each of the next three years. 'Together, we honor the unbreakable spirit and countless contributions of generations of African Americans to the story of American greatness,' he added in his 2018 statement. In 2019: 'Across our country, the contributions of African Americans continue to enrich every facet of American life.' In 2020: 'June reminds us of both the unimaginable injustice of slavery and the incomparable joy that must have attended emancipation. It is both a remembrance of a blight on our history and a celebration of our Nation's unsurpassed ability to triumph over darkness.' In 2020, after suspending his campaign rallies because of the coronavirus pandemic, Trump chose Tulsa, Oklahoma, as the place to resume his public gatherings and scheduled a rally for June 19. But the decision met with such fierce criticism that Trump postponed the event by a day. Black leaders had said it was offensive for Trump to choose June 19 and Tulsa for a campaign event, given the significance of Juneteenth and Tulsa being the place where, in 1921, a white mob looted and burned that city's Greenwood district, an economically thriving area referred to as Black Wall Street. As many as 300 Black Tulsans were killed, and thousands were temporarily held in internment camps overseen by the National Guard. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal days before the rally, Trump tried to put a positive spin on the situation by claiming that he had made Juneteenth 'famous.' He said he changed the rally date out of respect for two African American friends and supporters. 'I did something good. I made it famous. I made Juneteenth very famous,' Trump said. 'It's actually an important event, it's an important time. But nobody had heard of it. Very few people have heard of it.' Generations of Black Americans celebrated Juneteenth long before it became a federal holiday in 2021 with the stroke of President Joe Biden's pen. Later in 2020, Trump sought to woo Black voters with a series of campaign promises, including establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday. He lost the election, and that made it possible for Biden to sign the legislation establishing Juneteenth as the newest federal holiday. Last year, Biden spoke briefly at a holiday concert on the South Lawn that featured performances by Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle. Vice President Kamala Harris danced onstage with gospel singer Kirk Franklin. —-
