Eight Hungarian citizens out of the fifteen were able to leave the Gaza Strip, the remaining seven persons will continue to be contacted in order to evacuate as soon as possible, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Thursday in Astana.
According to the ministry's announcement, the head of the ministry reported that the armed conflict with Israel had also put many Hungarians in danger, more than 550 people managed to escape from the Middle Eastern country, but fifteen people with Hungarian citizenship were stranded in Gaza, as were approximately seven thousand other foreign citizens. too.
Last week, Péter Szijjártó asked his Egyptian colleague to allow the Hungarians to leave for Egypt, and he indicated that they would help with the evacuation if the Gaza authorities allow the people involved to leave.
He also mentioned that the government received a notification on Wednesday that the security of the dual citizens will begin, and since the Israeli authorities basically approve the list of those leaving, he immediately called the Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.
"I asked him for help, to make it possible for the fifteen Hungarian citizens to leave the Gaza Strip as soon as possible," he said, adding that they had received the permits in the last few hours.
Péter Szijjártó underlined that these fifteen people basically mean three families, with the addition of five Palestinian relatives we can talk about twenty people, and everyone was quickly informed about the possibility.
“Two of the three families accepted the security challenges of having to travel a relatively long distance within the Gaza Strip in order to reach the border crossing. One of the families did not agree to this," informed the minister.
"The two families, with a total of eight Hungarian citizens and two Palestinian family members, who undertook the journey, successfully crossed the Rafah crossing a few hours ago, so they are all now in the territory of Egypt," highlighted Szijjártó.
He said that four employees of the Hungarian embassy in Cairo were waiting for them on the Egyptian side with three minibuses, and that they were already on their way to the capital, in complete safety.
The minister stated that there is continuous contact with the other seven Hungarians who have exit permits, and if they do take the risks or the situation turns out like this, they will consult with the Israeli and Egyptian authorities again, and hopefully the foreign ministers of the two countries will help next time.
"Once again, I would like to express my gratitude to the Egyptian and Israeli foreign ministers for helping us, after our personal and telephone consultations, to bring the Hungarian citizens practically at the very beginning of the evacuation, and to help them get out of the Gaza Strip" - formulated.
MTI
Cover photo: Facebook/Péter Szijjártó
