The first group of 93 Romanian citizens and their families evacuated from the Gaza Strip arrived in Romania on the evening of November 8 on a special Tarom flight that landed at Base 90. 36 Moldovan citizens from Gaza were also evacuated and transported to Bucharest, where they were greeted by the authorities from Chișinău.

After passing to Egypt, the evacuees were accompanied from Cairo to Romania by prime minister Marcel Ciolacu and minister of foreign affairs Luminta Odobescu.

The prime minister announced that the Romanian government would issue a normative act to support the evacuated Romanians in reaching their extended families and integrating into the labor market.

"Today, 129 Romanians were recovered, both Romanian citizens from Romania and the Republic of Moldova. We have families from Timiș, Olt, Bacău. Each family has its own story. The crisis cell at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will function until we recover the last Romanian who wants to come to Romania or the Republic of Moldova," said PM Marcel Ciolacu, cited by Euronews Romania.

Another group of 51 Romanians and their families remained in the Gaza Strip despite receiving approval to cross the Rafah border crossing.

In a press release, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifies that, at this moment, "according to on-site information, the aforementioned border crossing point has been closed for the transit of individuals. Therefore, the evacuation of the mentioned group will be possible at a later date after the reopening of the Rafah crossing point."

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos | Octav Ganea)