TAMPA, Fla. — A flight evacuating Americans from Israel landed Wednesday morning at Tampa International Airport, the second this week.
Exact details on the flight remain limited due to security reasons, the airport said, but 10 Tampa Bay was there when the flight landed at TPA. At this time, we don't know the exact number of Americans on this latest flight but are working to get that information.
The first flight Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state of Florida chartered brought about 270 Americans from Israel. The mission was led by Project Dynamo, a Tampa-based organization of veterans and volunteers.
After the first flight, DeSantis said more flights carrying Americans, as many as 1,000, from Israel are expected to take place within the coming days.
Project Dynamo founder Bryan 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, Fort Myers during Hurricane Ian and Hawaii during the August wildfires.
President Joe Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday on an urgent mission to keep the Israel-Hamas war from spiraling into a broader regional conflict and to encourage the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on the tarmac to greet Biden.
The visit comes after hundreds of people were reported killed in an explosion at a Gaza Strip hospital on Tuesday. Hamas blamed the blast on an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military blamed a rocket misfired by another militant group, Islamic Jihad.
The war that began on Oct. 7 has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.