A group of 31 Austrians left this afternoon for Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, in the south of the Gaza Strip. The Foreign Ministry announced this in an evening broadcast. They were said to be “very relieved that we were able to bring the first group of 31 Austrians (…) to safety late in the afternoon.”
These are mainly dual nationals who live in Gaza or were visiting family, including ten minors. Also included are an employee of the Austrian representative office in Ramallah and his family, as well as two Austrian doctors who worked for an international organization in Gaza. People are fine “given the circumstances, they are physically fine”.
Other people want to leave
“In recent weeks, diplomatic channels have been working to encourage partners in the region to open the Rafah border crossing,” said Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP). He would like to thank “the Egyptian and Israeli partners for making the departure possible,” as well as his employees in Ramallah, Tel Aviv and Cairo.
There are still a handful of Austrians and their families who want to leave the country. “We will continue to leave no stone unturned so that they can leave the country quickly and, above all, safely,” stated Itamaraty.