Two Hungarian Air Force aircraft evacuated 215 people from Israel – Szijjártó

In a joint rescue operation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Ministry of Defence, two aircraft of the Hungarian Air Force left Israeli airspace late at night on Sunday with 215 people on board and are now safely on their way to Hungary, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced on his Facebook page.

Szijjártó added that, as in all similar cases, information about such operations will only be provided once those involved are safe. The minister stressed that in this case, too, information provided too early would have endangered the lives of hundreds of Hungarian citizens.

"We are grateful to the authorities of Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania for their cooperation in the swift issuance of the permits required for the flight," he wrote.

Earlier on Sunday, the Foreign Minister had said that they were in contact with a total of 400 Hungarian citizens in Israel, providing them with information on the security situation, the procedures to be followed during air raids and the operation of Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.

Update on Monday at 10:50:

In addition to them, another 100 Hungarians and 15 foreign nationals were seeking to leave Israel, so a third plane went back for them, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Facebook at around 10:30 on Monday.

He said that the three planes had evacuated a total of 325 people from Israel, so all Hungarians who asked for help are either in Hungary or on their way here.

"Of the 325 people we have evacuated, 15 are foreign nationals," Szijjártó said. He said the 15 foreign nationals included Israeli, Swedish, German, British and Portuguese citizens. Of the 325 evacuees, 46 were children.