US contingency evacuation plan in works

The White House said Tuesday that “prudent contingencyplanning” is underway to evacuate Americans from the West Asia in case the Israel-Hamas war spreads into a broad regional conflict. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stressed there are currently no “active efforts” to evacuate Americans from the region beyond charter flights the US government began operating earlier this month out of Israel.“It would be imprudent and irresponsible if we didn’t have folks thinking through a broad range of contingencies and possibilities,” Kirby said. “And certainly evacuations are one of those things.” Meanwhile, President Biden and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke over the phone about efforts to deter widening of the conflict.