TAMPA, Fla. — Thousands of people are trapped in a growing war zone as conflict escalates in the Middle East. On Friday, Israel launched an attack on Iran, sparking ongoing retaliation between the two nations. Now, Grey Bull Rescue, a local nonprofit, has launched an operation to help evacuate Americans who are unable to leave on their own.
Father’s Day weekend turned deadly in the Middle East, with Israel and Iran exchanging missile fire.
WATCH: "We don't come home until they do": Tampa Veteran-Led team rescues Americans from Middle East war zone
University of Florida Political Science Associate Professor Zach Seldon said Israel attacked due to the existential concern of Iran’s nuclear power.
"From an Israeli perspective, Iran has threatened to eliminate Israel," said Seldon. "So if, of course, if Iran was to develop two or three nuclear weapons and actually be able to deliver them over Israel, that would completely destroy Israel, it would not exist as a state any longer."
And this isn’t new territory. Seldon said tensions have been building for decades.
"Hamas is armed and funded by Iran," said Seldon. "Hezbollah is armed and funded by Iran. Those two organizations obviously have been, you know, consistently attacking Israel over this period of time, so this is nothing new."
But this recent conflict has caused casualties, and now civilians, including Americans, are stuck. Because of this, the local nonprofit, Grey Bull Rescue, is in the Middle East.
It’s a donor-funded international rescue organization led by veterans that Bryan Stern founded in Tampa.
Whether it’s boats and jet skis, planes in Afghanistan, or helicopters in Haiti, this team is going wherever they’re needed to save lives.
Stern said his team has rescued more than 7,000 people since 2021.
"We have a union rule: we don't get to come home until they come home," said Stern. "So we buy one-way tickets."
More than 3,000 people have registered to be rescued from this conflict.
Stern said the most significant challenge right now is the closed-off airspace in most of Israel.
"There's things flying from the sky as we speak," said Stern. "As we speak, so it's incredibly dangerous."
Grey Bull Rescue is currently preparing for operation “Olive Shield,” to help those trapped in the region.
His team of about 140 is mainly made up of Veterans.
"As a soldier, we take an oath, and the oath doesn't have an expiration date on it," said Stern. And these are our people. We're not - again - we're not Warzone Uber. We're not a bus service where we rescue Americans. We rescue allies, too."
But they are a last resort option. Even so, Stern said they have the best of the best, with a 100% success rate.
"My team [us] made up of Navy Seals and Green Berets and CIA guys and U.S. Marshals guys and secret service guys and we all come - my entire crew are the top 1% of their field wherever they came from."
So, if they’ve committed to rescuing you, he said they will get you.
"We've broken people out of jail from the Russians, we've done hostages, and people held in Gaza," said Stern. "If you register with us, and we tell you we're coming, pack, you won't be there very long."
If you have any friends or family members trapped in this region, you can click here to request help.
If you want to support this organization, to help them continue rescuing Americans in war zones, you can click here.
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