Czech, Slovak planes evacuate 139 people from Israel
PRAGUE: The Czech Republic and Slovakia have taken 139 people home on government planes from Israel because of its conflict with Iran, authorities said on Tuesday.
A Czech government plane carrying 66 people landed in Prague on Tuesday morning a day after a Slovak plane had taken 73 evacuees to Bratislava from Amman.
Israel closed its air space last Friday after conducting strikes on Iran.
'I am glad they are all OK. The transport was really demanding in the difficult environment,' Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova said about the Czech flight on social media site X.
The defence ministry said most of the 66 evacuees were Czech nationals.
'It was not possible to send the army plane straight to Israel,' the ministry said in a statement, citing the air-space closure.
'The evacuees were taken to the airport in the neighbouring country by buses. They crossed the border on foot.'
Czech media said a convoy with the evacuees had left Tel Aviv on Monday morning and boarded the plane in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt.
A Slovak government plane with 73 passengers -- mostly Slovaks, but also Poles, Czechs, Austrians, Slovenians and others -- landed in Bratislava on Monday before 1700 GMT, said Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar.
Slovakia is sending another plane on Tuesday and then on Wednesday, with both expected to bring back Slovaks and foreigners.
Israel began bombarding Iran since Friday, saying it aims to prevent its sworn enemy from acquiring a nuclear weapon -- a goal Tehran denies pursuing.
The Israeli attacks have killed at least 224 people and wounded more than 1,000, according to an official toll released Sunday.
In retaliation, Iran has carried out multiple attacks that have killed at least 24 people in Israel since Friday, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.
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The Sun
a day ago
- The Sun
Countries evacuating citizens from Iran and Israel
COUNTRIES around the world are taking measures to evacuate their citizens from Israel and Iran as the two nations enter the seventh day of their air war and airspace in the region remains closed. A week of Israeli air and missile strikes against its major rival has wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military command, damaged its nuclear capabilities and killed hundreds of people, while Iranian retaliatory strikes have killed at least two dozen civilians in Israel. Here are some of the countries whose citizens have left: AUSTRALIA The Australian government evacuated by land a small group of the 1,200 Australians seeking to leave Israel on Wednesday, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Thursday. Around 2,000 Australians in Iran have registered for assistance. AUSTRIA 48 Austrians have left Israel or neighboring Jordan, out of the 200 who reported to the Tel Aviv embassy, the Foreign Ministry said. Around 100 Austrians have requested to leave Iran. 44 Austrian and EU citizens have been evacuated towards Turkey and Armenia, it added. BULGARI Bulgaria has evacuated 17 diplomats and their families from Iran to Azerbaijan and will repatriate them by land and air, the Bulgarian government said. An administration at the Bulgarian embassy in Tehran is moving temporarily to Baku. CHINA China has evacuated more than 1,600 citizens from Iran and hundreds more from Israel, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday. Several thousand Chinese nationals are thought to reside in Iran, according to state media reports. CZECH REPUBLIC A flight with 66 people evacuated from Israel had landed near Prague, Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova said. FRANCE France will arrange a convoy by the end of the week from Iran to the Turkish or Armenian borders, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Thursday. French citizens in Israel can board buses starting Friday morning from the Jordanian border, with a flight chartered from Amman, Barrot said. GERMANY 345 German citizens have left the Middle East region, the foreign ministry said, after the country provided charter flights to Germany. GREECE Greece has evacuated 16 nationals and their families by land from Iran to Azerbaijan and is now working on their repatriation to Greece, the foreign ministry said on Thursday. INDIA India said on Wednesday it has launched 'Operation Sindhu' to evacuate Indian nationals from Iran. 110 Indian students have been evacuated from northern Iran into Armenia on June 17, India's foreign ministry said. ITALY Italy is organizing a charter flight from Egypt on June 22 to allow its citizens to leave Israel if they want to. 29 of the about 500 Italian nationals leaving in Iran already left the country on Wednesday with assistance from the government, a diplomatic source said. JAPAN Japan's government said on Thursday it would send two Self-Defense Forces transport aircraft to Djibouti in preparation for the evacuation of Japanese nationals from Iran and Israel. Japanese embassies in Israel and Iran are preparing to evacuate citizens to neighbouring countries by bus as early as Thursday. NEW ZEALAND New Zealand temporarily closed its Tehran embassy and evacuated two staff and their families by land to Azerbaijan. POLAND A group of Polish citizens evacuated from Iran landed in Warsaw on Thursday morning, ending the evacuation from the country, the Foreign Ministry said. The first plane evacuated from Israel landed in Warsaw on Wednesday morning and a second one is expected on Thursday afternoon from Amman, with 65 people on board. PORTUGAL Portugal has temporarily shut its embassy in Iran and evacuated four of its citizens via Azerbaijan. It has received 130 repatriation requests from citizens in Israel and is organising a repatriation flight, expected to land in Portugal later on Thursday, the foreign ministry said. SERBIA A group of 100 Serbs have fled Israel via Egypt, ambassador Miroljub Petrovic said on Thursday. SIERRA LEONE 36 citizens were evacuated to Armenia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. SLOVAKIA The first evacuation flight with 73 people, 25 tourists and five family members of Slovak diplomats working in Tel Aviv arrived in Bratislava on Monday, Slovak authorities said. The foreign ministry said on Friday it would temporarily close its embassy in Tehran and was fully evacuating staff from the country. SOUTH KOREA Eighteen South Korean nationals and two of their family members who are Iranian nationals were evacuated by land from Iran, South Korea's foreign ministry said. TAIWAN 36 Taiwanese have been evacuated from Israel via the land crossing with Jordan, while three Taiwanese have left Iran via the land border with Turkey, Taiwan's foreign ministry said. UNITED STATES The United States is working to evacuate U.S. citizens wishing to leave Israel by arranging flights and cruise ship departures, U.S. ambassador Mike Huckabee said in a post on X on Wednesday. VIETNAM Vietnam's foreign ministry told its citizens in Israel and Iran to get ready for evacuation and 18 Vietnamese citizens have already been evacuated from Iran.
The Sun
a day ago
- The Sun
Countries evacuate citizens amid escalating Israel-Iran war
COUNTRIES around the world are taking measures to evacuate their citizens from Israel and Iran as the two nations enter the seventh day of their air war and airspace in the region remains closed. A week of Israeli air and missile strikes against its major rival has wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military command, damaged its nuclear capabilities and killed hundreds of people, while Iranian retaliatory strikes have killed at least two dozen civilians in Israel. Here are some of the countries whose citizens have left: AUSTRALIA The Australian government evacuated by land a small group of the 1,200 Australians seeking to leave Israel on Wednesday, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Thursday. Around 2,000 Australians in Iran have registered for assistance. AUSTRIA 48 Austrians have left Israel or neighboring Jordan, out of the 200 who reported to the Tel Aviv embassy, the Foreign Ministry said. Around 100 Austrians have requested to leave Iran. 44 Austrian and EU citizens have been evacuated towards Turkey and Armenia, it added. BULGARI Bulgaria has evacuated 17 diplomats and their families from Iran to Azerbaijan and will repatriate them by land and air, the Bulgarian government said. An administration at the Bulgarian embassy in Tehran is moving temporarily to Baku. CHINA China has evacuated more than 1,600 citizens from Iran and hundreds more from Israel, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday. Several thousand Chinese nationals are thought to reside in Iran, according to state media reports. CZECH REPUBLIC A flight with 66 people evacuated from Israel had landed near Prague, Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova said. FRANCE France will arrange a convoy by the end of the week from Iran to the Turkish or Armenian borders, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Thursday. French citizens in Israel can board buses starting Friday morning from the Jordanian border, with a flight chartered from Amman, Barrot said. GERMANY 345 German citizens have left the Middle East region, the foreign ministry said, after the country provided charter flights to Germany. GREECE Greece has evacuated 16 nationals and their families by land from Iran to Azerbaijan and is now working on their repatriation to Greece, the foreign ministry said on Thursday. INDIA India said on Wednesday it has launched 'Operation Sindhu' to evacuate Indian nationals from Iran. 110 Indian students have been evacuated from northern Iran into Armenia on June 17, India's foreign ministry said. ITALY Italy is organizing a charter flight from Egypt on June 22 to allow its citizens to leave Israel if they want to. 29 of the about 500 Italian nationals leaving in Iran already left the country on Wednesday with assistance from the government, a diplomatic source said. JAPAN Japan's government said on Thursday it would send two Self-Defense Forces transport aircraft to Djibouti in preparation for the evacuation of Japanese nationals from Iran and Israel. Japanese embassies in Israel and Iran are preparing to evacuate citizens to neighbouring countries by bus as early as Thursday. NEW ZEALAND New Zealand temporarily closed its Tehran embassy and evacuated two staff and their families by land to Azerbaijan. POLAND A group of Polish citizens evacuated from Iran landed in Warsaw on Thursday morning, ending the evacuation from the country, the Foreign Ministry said. The first plane evacuated from Israel landed in Warsaw on Wednesday morning and a second one is expected on Thursday afternoon from Amman, with 65 people on board. PORTUGAL Portugal has temporarily shut its embassy in Iran and evacuated four of its citizens via Azerbaijan. It has received 130 repatriation requests from citizens in Israel and is organising a repatriation flight, expected to land in Portugal later on Thursday, the foreign ministry said. SERBIA A group of 100 Serbs have fled Israel via Egypt, ambassador Miroljub Petrovic said on Thursday. SIERRA LEONE 36 citizens were evacuated to Armenia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. SLOVAKIA The first evacuation flight with 73 people, 25 tourists and five family members of Slovak diplomats working in Tel Aviv arrived in Bratislava on Monday, Slovak authorities said. The foreign ministry said on Friday it would temporarily close its embassy in Tehran and was fully evacuating staff from the country. SOUTH KOREA Eighteen South Korean nationals and two of their family members who are Iranian nationals were evacuated by land from Iran, South Korea's foreign ministry said. TAIWAN 36 Taiwanese have been evacuated from Israel via the land crossing with Jordan, while three Taiwanese have left Iran via the land border with Turkey, Taiwan's foreign ministry said. UNITED STATES The United States is working to evacuate U.S. citizens wishing to leave Israel by arranging flights and cruise ship departures, U.S. ambassador Mike Huckabee said in a post on X on Wednesday. VIETNAM Vietnam's foreign ministry told its citizens in Israel and Iran to get ready for evacuation and 18 Vietnamese citizens have already been evacuated from Iran.
The Sun
2 days ago
- The Sun
Govts scramble to evacuate citizens from Israel and Iran
Hong Kong: Governments around the world are evacuating thousands of their nationals caught up in the rapidly spiralling Israel-Iran conflict, organising buses and planes and in some cases assisting people crossing borders on foot. Foreigners have rushed to leave both countries after Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign on Friday targeting Iran's nuclear and military facilities, sparking retaliation from Tehran. With Israel's air space closed and the two countries exchanging heavy missile fire, many people are being evacuated via neighbouring countries. - Europe - European countries have already repatriated hundreds of their citizens from Israel. The Czech Republic and Slovakia repatriated 181 people, who were bussed to a neighbouring country and crossed the border on foot, the Czech defence ministry said. Germany scheduled flights for Wednesday and Thursday via Jordan, while Poland said the first of its citizens would also arrive back on Wednesday. Italian nationals were being offered a charter flight on Sunday from Israel to Egypt and then Italy, with non-refundable reservations set at 500 euros ($575) per adult. Greece said it had repatriated 105 citizens plus a number of foreign nationals via Egypt, while a private plane with 148 people landed in the Bulgarian capital Sofia on Tuesday. Hungary evacuated 21 citizens from Iran via Azerbaijan, mainly diplomats and their families, officials said. Bulgaria repatriated 17, and Slovenia two diplomats and their families. - United States - The US ambassador to Israel announced plans on Wednesday for evacuating Americans by air and sea. The embassy was working on evacuation flights and cruise ship departures for 'American citizens wanting to leave Israel,' Ambassador Mike Huckabee posted on social media. - China - China has evacuated more than 1,600 citizens from Iran and several hundred more from Israel. Its foreign ministry said on Thursday those efforts would continue. - Australia - Australia has started evacuating around 1,500 citizens from Iran and more than 1,200 from Israel, although missile barrages have made it too risky for civilian aircraft, its foreign minister said. 'We have taken the opportunity to get a small group of Australians out of Israel through a land border crossing,' said Foreign Minister Penny Wong. - Mexico - Mexico said it had evacuated 18 people from Iran to Azerbaijan, both Mexican nationals and family members. - Pakistan - Pakistan has shut its border crossings with neighbouring Iran, except to Pakistanis wanting to return home. Around 3,000 Pakistanis have crossed the border from Iran since the conflict started, foreign ministry spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan said on Thursday. The families of diplomats and some non-essential staff from Iran have also been evacuated. - India - Around 110 students who fled Iran over the land border with Armenia have landed in New Delhi, an Indian foreign ministry spokesperson said Thursday. There are around 10,000 Indian citizens in Iran. New Delhi also said it planned to evacuate all Indian nationals in Israel who wish to leave. There are around 30,000. - Japan - Japan has ordered military planes to be on standby for around 1,000 Japanese nationals believed to live in Israel, and around 280 in Iran, according to government ministers. - Indonesia - Indonesia is preparing to evacuate around 380 of its citizens currently in Iran by land, Jakarta's foreign minister said Thursday. At least 11 Indonesians in Israel have also asked to leave. - Vietnam - Vietnam, which has more than 700 citizens in Israel and dozens in Iran, said it was working to ensure their safety. The foreign ministry said on Thursday that 18 Vietnamese from Iran were evacuated, 16 of whom returned to Vietnam. It did not provide further information on evacuations from Israel. - Philippines - The Philippines is preparing to repatriate 28 Israel-based Filipino workers out of 178 who asked for help, the Department of Migrant Workers said on Thursday. At least 21 Philippine government officials have also crossed into Jordan by land from Israel, the foreign ministry said.
