MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/. Moscow is concerned that a potential escalation may hinder the evacuation of Russian nationals via the Rafah border, Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov told Rossiya-24 television.

"Evacuation efforts are currently underway via the Rafah border crossing in the southern [Gaza] strip. There haven’t been any major incidents there in the past few days, but there is always the risk of an escalation and moving Russian citizens and other nationals through that crossing is at risk," the diplomat said. "We have major concerns and we constantly make them known to our Israeli partners," he added.

However, Viktorov expressed hope that the evacuation would be completed "in the next few days." "The situation is getting worse there anyway, as we can see. All services, hospitals will reportedly stop functioning there due a shortage of fuel. And [the enclave] will be cut off from the internet literally within the next couple of days, putting us out of touch with our citizens. We take all this into account and we have doubled our efforts," the Russian ambassador said. He also praised the joint effort of a great number of Russian agencies and ministries.

According to Viktorov, some 100 Russians are expected to be evacuated from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Russia has coordinated "the exit of about half of its citizens currently staying in the Gaza Strip with all interested parties," he added as he announced plans to evacuate roughly 200 Palestinians with Russian ties from the enclave as well.

Meanwhile, a third group of 40 Russian evacuees crossed into Egypt via Rafah earlier on Wednesday, Russian Emergencies Ministry Spokesman Roman Okhotenko told reporters.

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 applied for evacuation from Gaza, including Russian citizens, members of Russian diasporas and 300 minors. The day before, the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Il-76 flight carrying the second group of 98 Russian evacuees out of the Gaza Strip landed at Domodedovo Airport.