From the Liveblog of
Monday, March 2, 2026
US State Department urges Americans to immediately leave over a dozen Mideast nations, including Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleThe US Department of State calls on Americans to immediately depart more than a dozen countries in the Middle East, including Israel, amid the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Americans are urged to depart using commercial means from Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen, according to Mora Namdar, the State Department’s assistant secretary for consular affairs.
The State Department has also activated an inter-agency emergency task force to manage the situation and coordinate the United States’ response to the conflict, a US official says.
The warning comes after the department, in recent days, updated its travel advisories for several countries in the region to recommend against travel.
The US Embassy in Amman, Jordan, announced earlier on Monday that its personnel had departed the site “due to a threat.”
In a post on X, Namdar gives details for those needing assistance.
The @SecRubio @StateDept urges Americans to DEPART NOW from the countries below using available commercial transportation, due to serious safety risks. Americans who need State Department assistance arranging to depart via commercial means, CALL US 24/7 at +1-202-501-4444 (from… pic.twitter.com/vdplAik2Sq
— Assistant Secretary Mora Namdar (@AsstSecStateCA) March 2, 2026
“Depart now via commercial means due to serious safety risks,” the new security update urges.
Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport is closed, and the country’s airspace is not expected to reopen before the start of next week at the earliest.
The urgent message is issued on the third day of US and Israeli attacks on Iran, which US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have said are aimed at creating conditions in which the Iranian public can achieve freedom from the Iranian regime. Iran has continued to target Israel with missiles and drones, and also fired at several countries in the region, with the war widening in the course of today.
The US State Department on Friday authorized non-emergency personnel and the family members of those stationed in Israel to leave the country due to “safety risks,” with US Ambassador Mike Huckabee reportedly telling embassy staff that if they want to leave Israel, they “should do so TODAY.”
CNN has also just quoted an unnamed senior US official saying that the US is preparing for a “major uptick” in attacks in Iran over the next 24 hours.
The Times of Israel Community.