GOP lawmaker helps evacuate Americans in Israel

International News | The Hill

Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) is in Israel to aid Americans in escaping the country, which has been ravaged by fighting over the last few days.

Former Rep. Mayra Flores (R-Texas) posted a photo of the Florida Republican in Israel on social media, saying that he is helping evacuate U.S. citizens in the wake of Hamas’s attack over the weekend and the ensuing bloodshed.

“My friend, Florida Representative Cory Mills, is currently on the ground in Israel, helping to evacuate American citizens who are trapped in Israel. May God keep them safe as they continue their rescue efforts! @CoryMillsFL,” Flores wrote in a post on X, the platform previously known as Twitter.

In an interview with The Floridian, Mills said that he helped evacuate 32 Americans, adding that there are hundreds still in Israel. He told the outlet that his trip to Israel was “helping and showing solidarity with our Israeli brethren and helping Americans evacuate.”

The Hill has reached out to Mills’s office for further comment.

The State Department confirmed Wednesday that 22 American citizens have died in Israel since Saturday. The White House also said that Americans were among those being held by Hamas in the wake of its unprecedented attacks over the weekend.

Mills’s reported trip to Israel also comes as the House GOP scrambles to back a new Speaker after ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the position last week. Mills had endorsed Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for the Speakership, but Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) secured the party’s nomination in a closed-door GOP conference meeting Wednesday.