Poland’s Foreign Ministry announced it will evacuate about 200 citizens from Israel, making it the first EU country to do so as tensions with Iran escalate.
“We estimate that we will be ready within several dozen hours. The evacuation will concern tourists and Poles who are staying in Israel for a short period of time,” Deputy Foreign Minister Henryka Mościcka-Dendys told reporters on Monday.
After Israel attacked Iranian nuclear and military facilities on Friday, June 13, the two countries have engaged in continuous missile and drone strikes. At least 14 people in Israel and 224 in Iran have been killed in airstrikes, as of Sunday evening, according to their respective authorities.
While other EU countries issued travel advisories against visiting Israel, Poland is the first to evacuate its citizens. They will travel by bus to Jordan and then fly to Warsaw. Israeli airspace remains closed.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Friday that “the Zionist regime has prepared a bitter and painful fate for itself.” After Iran’s retaliatory strikes, Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, warned that “Tehran will burn” if it continues its attacks.
European leaders called for “restraint” and diplomatic resolution to the conflict, but Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. on Sunday pushed back against calls for peace, saying: “The objective is not to contain the war. The objective is to win the war.”
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