Two more TAROM planes brought to the country Romanians caught in the war in Israel. The planes landed at 3:50 and 4:15. The national airline also made two such special flights yesterday, between Tel Aviv and Bucharest, while Wizz Air announced that it was suspending all its flights between Romania and Israel. Another private company brought 115 people back to the country yesterday. Other European countries also sent planes after their citizens. Poland and Bulgaria even used the presidential aircraft in these missions.
The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) announced that 245 Romanian citizens, including 2 groups of pilgrims, were repatriated from Israel on Sunday, by means of two flights operated by the TAROM company, respectively two flights operated by a private airline, “Continuing the information transmitted in the context deterioration of the security situation in the State of Israel and the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) informs that, following the steps taken by the Crisis Cell of the MAE, on October 8, 2023, 245 Romanian citizens were repatriated from the State of Israel, among which also 2 groups of pilgrims, by means of two flights operated by the TAROM company, respectively two flights operated by a private airline“, MAE said.
There is a mobile consular team from the Romanian Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Romanian Representative Office in Ramallah at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv with the aim of providing consular assistance to Romanian citizens at the airport. A team from the Rapid Reaction Unit of the MAE Crisis Cell traveled on October 8, 2023 to the state of Israel, in order to support the efforts to repatriate Romanian citizens, already undertaken by the consular missions involved.
The MFA reiterates the recommendation addressed to Romanian citizens who intend to travel to the State of Israel to reschedule their trip and follow the “Travel Alerts” section on the MFA website (https://www.mae.ro/travel-alerts/2938) .
Romanian citizens who are in the territory of this state can contact the Embassy of Romania in Tel Aviv and announce their presence in the region, thus communicating their identification data and their coordinates to the e-mail address telaviv@mae.ro and to the telephone number permanence of the Romanian Embassy in Tel Aviv: +972 54 5643279, as well as that of the Consulate General in Haifa: +972 543 998 038, in order to be contacted.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends consulting the Internet pages https://telaviv.mae.ro, https://consular-protection.ec.europa.eu/travel-advice_en and www.mae.ro – the “Travel Advice” column and reminds the fact that Romanian citizens traveling abroad have at their disposal the SMS alert service, related to the information campaign “An SMS can save your life!”.
FM Odobescu: Around 800 Romanians are still in Israel. There are 350 Romanians in the Gaza Strip, and 100 have requested evacuation
Until now, approximately 800 Romanians have been evacuated from Israel, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminiţa Odobescu, announced to Digi24. Another 800 are in Israel and have requested support. There are also 350 Romanians in the Gaza Strip, of which 100 have requested evacuation so far.
“The situation is fluid, we estimate that around 800 more Romanian citizens are still in Israel. But the situation is volatile, every day more citizens indicated their whereabouts and requested support. We are careful about the numbers we say and our objective is to focus on repatriating as many Romanian citizens as possible, as quickly as possible. At this moment we can manage the situation with TAROM planes and private companies. Depending on developments, we are also considering other options, but now we are focusing on supplementing the TAROM races,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminiţa Odobescu.
There are also 350 Romanians in the Gaza Strip, of which 100 have requested evacuation so far.
“We have a situation of the Romanians in the Gaza Strip, the situation is extremely complicated, we are in contact with some of them, we have the situation of those who want and have requested evacuation and repatriation, we are in dialogue with the Israeli authorities, but also with those of the neighboring countries . We have the evacuation request from 100 people. Around 350 Romanians are in the Gaza Strip, but not all of them have requested evacuation,” said the Foreign minister.
BOR: “In a very large proportion, the Romanian pilgrims in Israel returned home safely
The Romanian pilgrims in Israel have already returned home safely, in a large proportion, the spokesperson of the Romanian Orthodox Chruch (BOR) Vasile Bănescu, told Agerpres.
“In a very large proportion, the Romanian pilgrims have already safely returned home. Almost 300 the day before yesterday, the same yesterday. Those who are going to return are accommodated in safe places and will return on flights that take off depending on the approvals of the authorities military. The Romanian Patriarchate has communicated since the beginning of the conflict constantly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Romanian Embassy in Israel, directly with His Excellency Mr. Ambassador Radu Ioanid,” said Bănescu. Vasile Bănescu also showed that the BOR Representation in Jerusalem and the Romanian Settlement in Jericho were and are places of refuge and support for the groups of Romanian pilgrims currently in Israel.