A cruise liner carrying U.S citizens from Haifa, Israel, enters in the port in Limassol, Cyprus, on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. U.S. government authorities arranged to ferry some 160 U.S. nationals and citizens of other countries aboard the cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas, who opted to leave Israel ahead of an expected Israeli army assault on Hamas targets in the Gaza strip. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
A cruise ship carrying about 130 U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals fleeing from the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas docked in Cyprus early Tuesday, according to reports.
The ship was met at the port of Limassol, Cyprus by U.S. ambassador Julie Fisher. The Americans were processed by U.S. customs agents and set up with local accommodations as they await flights home.
Naama Kopelman, who has relatives believed to be Hamas hostages, said she decided to leave Israel for the sake of her daughter.
“It’s a big relief to be out of there in a safe place. No alarms, no sounds of the planes going about all the time,” Kopelman told The Associated Press.
The war between Israel and the Palestinian military group Hamas has killed over a thousand Israelis and thousands more Palestinians. The Israeli military has continuously bombarded Gaza with missiles and air strikes in preparation for an expected ground invasion.
Ten days ago, Hamas militants killed over 1,200 Israeli civilians and took about 200 more hostage in a surprise attack.
A “very small” number of the hostages are Americans, the White House said last week.
At least 30 American citizens have died in the conflict, the State Department said Sunday. Another 15 are unaccounted for. At least 600 U.S. citizens are in Gaza and an estimated 500,000 live in Israel.
“The U.S. government is working around the clock to determine their whereabouts and is working with the Israeli government on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to advise the Israeli government on hostage recovery efforts,” a State Department spokesperson said Saturday.
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