TAMPA, Florida — More than a couple hundred Americans stranded in Israel are back on U.S. soil after landing at the Tampa International Airport on Sunday.
The mission was led by Project DYNAMO, a Tampa-based organization of veterans and volunteers. The group announced it evacuated 270 Americans from Israel after the country declared war in response to attacks from Hamas last weekend.
"I'm an American citizen. We do not leave our people behind," said CEO and founder Bryan Stern.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis were present to greet evacuees, 91 of whom were children, according to Project DYNAMO.
"We, of course, have a very close relationship between Florida and Israel," DeSantis said. "We knew this was going to be a big issue for this state."
Stern said the DeSantis administration was the first time a government agency of any kind funded his organization to evacuate Americans. Previously, the group helped rescue people from areas like Afghanistan, Ukraine, Ft. Myers during Hurricane Ian and Hawaii during the August wildfires.
DeSantis said more flights carrying Floridians, as many as 1,000, from Israel are expected to take place within the next few days. The Florida Division of Emergency Management is leading efforts as part of the governor's executive order to "carry out logistical, rescue and evacuation operations to keep its residents safe."
The governor also criticized the federal government's handling of evacuating Americans. Federal officials said their first charter flight landed in Athens, Greece on Saturday.
The U.S. Department of State said more than 20,000 Americans in Israel have reached out for assistance to evacuate since Hamas attacked last weekend.
Evacuations may get tougher as the war rages on and major airlines that have now suspended flights to and from Israel.
Stern said he hopes this latest mission, which brought back the most number of evacuees yet, spurs more people to donate to their causes and prompt funding from government officials.
"I haven't slept in four days and we're just really, really happy to be home, and there's a lot of Americans stuck in a lot of other places right now," Stern said.