MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/. Russia is grateful to its Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian colleagues for assistance in evacuating Russian citizens and their family members from the Gaza Strip, Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov said.

"We are very positive about the fact that we have finally launched an operation to evacuate Russian citizens and their family members from the Gaza Strip, which is under fire. By the way, we are grateful to our Israeli, Palestinian, and Egyptian colleagues, diplomats from Qatar were also involved. Through joint efforts, this process was established," he said on the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

The evacuation of Russian citizens from the Gaza Strip, who found themselves in the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, was organized by the Russian Emergencies Ministry in coordination with diplomats. The first group of 70 Russian citizens crossed the Rafah checkpoint into Egypt on November 12. According to Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, more than 1,000 people have registered for evacuation from the Gaza Strip, including Russian citizens, compatriots and 300 minors. The day before, the Russian Emergencies Ministry's Il-76 plane carrying the second group of 98 Russian citizens evacuated from the Gaza Strip landed at Domodedovo airport.