The Tongan church group is made up of 45 people - mostly New Zealand citizens over the age of 40 and a 26-year-old woman.
RNZ Pacific spoke to a friend of the group who said this was "a crisis" and called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide a safe evacuation.
The friend who wished to stay anonymous to protect the group's safety said: "If the NZ consul can't get them out within the next 12 hours, a lockdown will imprison them in Israel for an indeterminate period."
