China leads exodus from Israel and Iran as nations rush to evacuate citizens over conflict
China has begun evacuating its citizens from Iran and Israel as tensions grow in the region over the escalating bombardments in both nations.
The Chinese foreign ministry called on its citizens to board chartered flights out of Iran and Israel on Tuesday following President Xi Jinping's call for a cease-fire between the warring states.
'Military conflict is not a way to solve problems, and the escalation of regional tensions is not in the common interests of the international community,' Xi said in his first public comment since the conflict broke out on Friday.
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4 Xi Jinping called for a cease-fire between Israel and Iran as Chinese citizens were flown out of both nations on Tuesday.
KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP via Getty Images
4 A boy walks by the wreckage of an Iranian missile strike in Israel.
Matan Golan/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
China's evacuation order coincided with flights out of Israel for 139 people from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with the Tourism Ministry offering to help any foreigners coordinate flights out of the Jewish state.
Czech Defense Minister Jana Černochová confirmed that a plane carrying 66 Czech nationals landed in Prague on Tuesday morning after they were transported by bus to an Egyptian airport.
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'It was not possible to send the army plane straight to Israel,' the ministry said, due to the airspace closure around the Jewish state over Iran's retaliatory attacks.
A Slovakia-bound plane carrying 73 passengers — mostly Slovaks, but also Poles, Czechs, Austrians, Slovenians and others — landed in Bratislava overnight, said Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar.
4 Slovakia charted a flight with 73 passengers out of Israel as many nations call for their citizens to evacuate.
AP
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4 A man watches smoke billow over Tehran following an Israeli airstrike.
BERNO/SIPA/Shutterstock
Among the Slovak evacuees were five family members of diplomats working in Tel Aviv, officials added.
Poland said Tuesday that evacuation flights for its citizens were in the works and set to take off on Wednesday and Thursday.
Israel's Tourism Ministry said that there are about 38,000 tourists currently in Israel, with the agency working with the National Security Council and Transportation Ministry to coordinate flights out of the Jewish state.
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Birthright Israel, a nonprofit that was overseeing 2,800 young adults visiting Israel, also facilitated the evacuation of 1,500 people — including hundreds of Americans — aboard a cruise ship bound for Cyprus on Tuesday.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chartered four jets to pick up the Americans and fly them to Tampa, where they can return home.
With Post wires
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