MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/. The evacuation from the Gaza Strip will continue until all Russian citizens who have asked for help have been evacuated, the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"The evacuation will continue in close cooperation with all parties involved until the removal from the [Gaza] Strip of all our compatriots who have turned to Russian foreign missions for help," the Foreign Ministry said.
The Russian diplomats also noted that Russia was "grateful to the representatives of the Egyptian, Israeli, Qatari and Palestinian authorities for their effective assistance" in the evacuation from Gaza.
In addition, the ministry said that the evacuation of civilians from the sector "is being carried out in stages, taking into account the limited capacity of the Rafah checkpoint on the border with Egypt." "In the conditions of the ongoing hostilities in the Gaza Strip, the operating time of the crossing has been reduced to a few hours during the day," the Russian Foreign Ministry added.
"The first group of 70 Russians and their family members seeking help, mostly women and children, crossed the Egyptian border and were taken to Cairo by ground transport. Their flight to Moscow on the plane of the Russian Emergencies Ministry is scheduled for tonight," the diplomats said.
Evacuation of Russian citizens from Gaza Strip
The work on evacuation of Russian citizens from the Gaza Strip, who found themselves in the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, is being organized by the Russian Emergencies Ministry together with Russian diplomats. Last Sunday, the first group of Russian citizens crossed the Rafah checkpoint into Egyptian territory. A total of 168 Russian citizens crossed the checkpoint over two days. Employees of the Russian Emergencies Ministry met them and provided them with medical and psychological assistance.
On Monday, Daniil Martynov, adviser to the Russian Emergencies Minister, said at the operational headquarters in Cairo that members of the agency's task force were preparing to go to the Rafah checkpoint on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip to evacuate another group of 90-100 Russians from the enclave.