Poland to evacuate its citizens from Israel
Poland's foreign ministry is preparing to evacuate citizens from Israel due to the intensifying conflict with Iran, the Prime Minister's Office has announced.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is organising the evacuation of Polish citizens from the Middle East," Jan Grabiec, the head of the Prime Minister's Office, wrote on the X platform on Sunday night.
"Both military and civil flights are prepared, if conditions allow," the statement said, adding that return to the country is free of charge.
On Monday morning, Deputy Foreign Minister Henryka Moscicka-Dendys announced that the evacuation would commence "within the next few dozen hours." It would apply only "to those who are stranded in Israel as tourists or on short-term stays."
She said that Poland would be the first country to start evacuation from the Middle East. She confirmed that due to the closed airspace over Israel, the operation would involve a journey by land to Amman, Jordan, followed by flights back to Poland. The procedure might continue until Thursday.
The foreign ministry has also urged Polish citizens living in Iran to leave the country by land.
Earlier on Sunday, Pawel Wronski, spokesman for the foreign ministry, said that more than 200 Polish nationals who are now in Israel have said they want to leave the country with support from the Polish government.
Israel launched a massive aerial attack on Iran on Friday morning, targeting the country's nuclear and military facilities and killing top military commanders and nuclear scientists in an effort to cripple the country's ability to develop nuclear weapons. Iran retaliated, launching a wave of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel, and the exchange of blows has since continued.(PAP)
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