WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland is sending military planes to evacuate its citizens from Israel, Polish President Andrzej Duda said, after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel.
“We are sending air force transport planes to carry out the evacuation of Poles currently staying in Israel. Soldiers from our special forces will ensure loading protection and safety on board,” Duda wrote on X social media platform.
Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said Poland was sending two C-130 Hercules planes to evacuate some 200 Poles from Ben Gurion Airport.
It would add more planes if necessary or liaise with Greece to ferry Polish citizens to the Mediterranean country before bringing them home on Casa transport planes.
“We are in talks on establishing an evacuation bridge… with Greece,” Blaszczak said at a press conference.
“We can expect these planes to take off any moment, arrive at their destination and pick up Polish tourists waiting at the airport,” he added.
Polish state-owned airline LOT cancelled flights to Ben Gurion.
Meanwhile, Hungary has evacuated 215 people from Israel by air on two planes overnight and they have safely landed in Budapest, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a Facebook post on Monday morning.
Szijjarto thanked Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania for granting fast permissions for the flight.
Maltese nationals in Israel request government assistance for return
Seven Maltese nationals have contacted the Embassy of Malta in Israel and requested their assistance as they find themselves stranded in Israel’s territory after attacks from Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“The Embassy of Malta in Israel and the Representative Office to Palestine are following the situation in coordination with the Ministry to assist in the evacuation of those Maltese who are currently in these territories,” the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade said on Sunday.
The ministry clarified that no requests have been received from the Palestinian territories yet, despite Israel also launching retaliatory strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip
In view of these attacks, the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade also advised that no one should travel to Israel and Palestinian territories.
“In view that Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv is not in a position to operate as usual due to the circumstances, direct flights to Malta planned on Monday 9 October and Wednesday 11 October were cancelled by the national airline Air Malta,” the statement read.
The Ministry also notified that those in need of assistance from the Embassy of Malta in Israel should contact 00972522575708; those who require assistance from the Representation of Malta in Palestine should contact 00972548992228.
Those wishing to contact the Ministry directly should do so on 0035622040000.
Several international air carriers have suspended flight services with Tel Aviv in light of the Hamas militant attack on Israel, saying they were waiting for safety conditions to improve before resuming.
