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Situation around Rafah border crossing difficult, Russia continues evacuation efforts

The department noted that all necessary measures are being taken to ensure the speedy and safe evacuation of Russians from the Gaza Strip

MOSCOW, November 19. /TASS/. The situation around the evacuation from the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing is still difficult, Russia is making efforts to evacuate its nationals, the Russian foreign ministry said on Sunday.

"The situation around the Rafah border crossing is difficult. The evacuation of foreign citizens proceeds in stages, taking into account the ongoing hostilities and restricted capacities of the checkpoint," it said.

"The crisis centers of the foreign and emergencies ministries, other agencies, as well as of Russian diplomatic missions in Cairo, Tel Aviv, Ramallah, and Doha continue coordinated efforts. All necessary measures are being taken to ensure the soonest and safe evacuation of our citizens from the Gaza Strio," it added.

The ministry recalled that on November 19 another group of people who had been evacuated from Gaza - 120 Russian citizens and Palestinians (members of their families) - arrived in Moscow from Cairo by a Russian emergencies ministry’s plane.

"In all, as many as 558 Russian nationals and members of their families, who applied for the evacuation, have been evacuated. A total of 408 of them have been airlifted to Russia from Egypt," the ministry said.