Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday it was “shocked” by the delays in the evacuation of Russian citizens trapped in Gaza to Egypt, which Israel said could take up to two weeks.
“Yesterday we were shocked to hear a statement from the Israeli ambassador in Moscow, according to which the preparation of Russian lists (for withdrawal) could take up to two weeks”Russian diplomacy spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said this at a press conference.
‘It’s unacceptable logic’he denounced and assured that on the Russian side “everything is ready” for evacuation through the Rafah border crossing, under Egyptian control.
“We cannot understand why this process has not been initiated, despite our operational actions and our compliance with all requests and conditions set out in the security measures”he added.
Israel’s ambassador to Moscow, Alexander Ben Zvi, told Russian news agency TASS that Egypt had decided to allow only 600 people per day through the Rafah border crossing.
‘If only 600 people are allowed through per day, it could take two weeks’ to evacuate Russian citizens, Ben Zvi said, adding that a total of 7,000 people are waiting to leave the Gaza Strip.
Zakharova also said that “many children” were waiting to be removed, adding that approximately “300 Russian minors” were in this situation.
The Rafah border crossing, controlled by Egyptian authorities, was reopened on November 1 to allow the evacuation of foreigners and dual nationals stranded on Palestinian territory.
Three days after the opening of the Rafah crossing, dozens of injured Palestinians and hundreds of foreign passport holders were able to leave Gaza for Egypt.
After that period, Hamas suspended evacuations for two days before reauthorizing them.
On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel with the launch of thousands of rockets and the incursion of armed militiamen, killing more than 1,400 people and taking more than two and a half hundred hostages.
In response, Israel declared war on Hamas, a movement that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and is classified as terrorist by the European Union (EU) and the United States. Israel bombed several of the group’s infrastructures in Gaza and imposed a total siege. the area where the supply of water, fuel and electricity has been interrupted.
Source: DN
