Gaza evacuations underway amid 'trigger of violence' never seen before

The U.S. government is organizing charter flights to evacuate citizens living in Israel as the military conflict between Israeli and Hamas forces escalates. Global Guardian CEO Dale Buckner — a retired U.S. Army Colonel and former Green Beret — sits down with Yahoo Finance's Akiko Fujita to discuss the evacuation strategy for overseas clients.

"We will continue to utilize the airspace as long as we have it. We are concerned about losing the airspace, as the trigger of the IDF [Israeli Defense Force] entering Gaza, and we do believe that is probably going to happen in the next few days," Buckner states. "If that occurs, we have been executing ground movements to Jordan."

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Video Transcript

AKIKO FUJITA: Starting today, at least four charter flights a day out of Israel are expected. Sources telling the AP, the State Department estimates 500,000 Americans currently living in the country. Global Guardian is a security company offering protection and evacuation aid to employees and their families worldwide.

Since Saturday morning, Global Guardian agents have already completed 18 evacuations to retrieve more than 800 people. Let's bring in CEO Dale Buckner to explain. Dale, I imagine the last week has been an incredibly busy one for you. Where do the evacuations stand right now?

DALE BUCKNER: So Akiko, we continue. About every six to eight hours, we will initiate another evacuation. We have a flight leaving now for Cyprus. We will continue to utilize the airspace as long as we have it. We are concerned about losing the airspace as the trigger of the IDF entering Gaza. And we do believe that is probably going to happen in the next few days.

If that occurs, we have been executing ground movements to Jordan. We cannot go north as the presence with Lebanon and Hezbollah is real and the threat is real and the fighting is real. We cannot go South to Egypt as there's conflict there. So Jordan is our best bet to the east by ground. And we will continue to kind of ebb and flow to whatever the option is to get our clients out of harm's way.

AKIKO FUJITA: This is a region, unfortunately, with a history of conflict. And yet you have said that this time around is different in terms of the challenges with your operation. What are you seeing this time?

DALE BUCKNER: Yeah, I think if you look at the last seven years, typically, these would be skirmishes that would last a week. There would be a volley from both sides. After a week or so, there would be some kind of agreement, and we'd go back to status quo. That's not going to happen. This time this can go on for weeks to months, if not years. This is a trigger of violence we have not seen.

And I think ultimately, our message to our client base and the corporate sector and families is, don't risk it. It's time to get out. It is day six. I think if you are pending a decision, it should have been made 72, 96 hours ago. We are now getting later and later in the game, if you will. And it does get more difficult as the violence escalates. And make no mistake, both within Israel and the region to include the West and the United States, you're going to see the violence escalate. And the pace of things is about to escalate materially.

AKIKO FUJITA: What are you hearing from clients on the ground? I mean, this isn't-- when you talk about Israel, I mean, this is a country that has a huge Western presence. We know a lot of tech companies are there, pharmaceutical companies as well. What have the last six days been like for you in fielding some of these calls and trying to get your clients to safety?

DALE BUCKNER: Yeah. Look, I think if you live in Israel and you live in this environment, you have an expectation and you expect these things to a certain degree. It is part of day-to-day life. I do believe that corporate America and the West is realizing this is different. And there's going to have to be more people moved out of harm's way.

And let's see what happens. I hope I'm wrong. If I'm wrong, then this will move quicker, we will find our way to a settlement I hope that's the case. But the reality, I think, on the ground is people are realizing this truly is different, and they need to take action that they might not have over the last seven years.