The U.S. State Department has begun evacuating non-essential diplomats and their families from the U.S. embassy in Israel as hostilities between Israel and Iran intensify and there is the possibility that the United States may soon become directly involved in the conflict.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will be closed for the next few days as the Israel-Iran conflict intensifies, the embassy said in a release. The embassy has also directed all U.S. government employees and their family members to continue sheltering in place.