An American church group from North Dakota was on a trip to Israel when war suddenly broke out around them, forcing them to find a creative way out of the country.
A tour group of dozens of U.S. Christians was successfully evacuated from Israel after finding themselves stuck in Bethlehem as a war broke out around them, according to leaders. A church group of about 84 people out of the Diocese of West Fargo, North Dakota was forced into a change of plans during a trip to Israel last week after a Hamas surprise attack on the country, forcing them to find a way from their hotel in Bethlehem to the border of Jordan to escape the sudden conflict zone.
While the group didn't know the severity of the situation yet, they were reportedly told that they would be transported to their hotel in Bethlehem, an apparently safer place away from the conflict. Once there, members of the group began receiving communications from loved ones back home alerting them to the situation developing around them.
was getting text message from my sister that were pretty panicked about what was going on,' McDonald said. 'We were providing updates, just based on what we had seen on Fox News at that point. And I reached out to Mark and asked if he had any resources.' McDonald said that Geist got to work reaching out to contacts he had in the region, which allowed him to provide reliable information back to the group in Bethlehem.
But when the group found out Wednesday morning that Air Canada had canceled their flight out of Tel Aviv, they decided to follow advice to head for Jordan. The group was able to board their buses and make the journey to Jordan without incident, Ackerman told Fox News Digital, with the largest obstacle being a bit of a delay for the group to be processed at the border.
couldn't begin to blame anybody for thinking that the wheels of government are moving to slowly when you're trapped in a situation where you're surrounded by violence and uncertainty and understandably fearful,' Cramer told Fox News Digital. Cramer said he stayed in contact with people on the ground and Bethlehem while working with the State Department to find a solution.
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