MOSCOW, December 11. /TASS/. Russia expects to complete the mass evacuation of citizens from the Gaza Strip in the coming days, Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov said.

"In fact, we are completing the work on the evacuation. Several dozen Russian citizens and their relatives are being considered by all the parties involved. I hope that the mass evacuation from the Gaza Strip will be completed literally in a few days," the diplomat said during a Rossiya-24 TV broadcast.

According to the ambassador, more than a thousand Russian citizens and their Palestinian family members have left the Gaza Strip and been evacuated to Russia.

Viktorov pointed out that Russia is closely cooperating with all parties on which the solution of the evacuation issues depends - Israel, Egypt and Palestinian representatives. Russia is also working with all parties on the issue of releasing hostages from the Gaza Strip, the ambassador added.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 200 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also underway in the West Bank.