Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel says about 1,000 Ukrainian citizens have turned to the Ukrainian Embassy in Tel Aviv asking for help to be evacuated to Ukraine to escape the war between Hamas -- designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and EU -- and Israel.
Yevhen Korniychuk told RFE/RL on October 11 that the number of Ukrainians seeking to leave is rising and that this has created a complex problem.
"We do not have anywhere to evacuate the people. We will not transport people from one war to another war," he said. "Our major goal is to take out as many people as possible in a short period of time."
Of the whole Russian-speaking population of Israel, about half a million people are of Ukrainian origin.
“And these people either are Ukrainian passport holders or those who have a right to obtain Ukrainian passports," Korniychuk said, adding that as Ukraine continues to fight to repel the ongoing Russian invasion, Kyiv cannot afford to pay for the flights.
There are 15,000 Ukrainian citizens registered at the consulate, Korniychuk said, noting that those are just the people who chose to be registered. The embassy also has a temporary consular registration list with a certain number of people registered.
In addition, there are many Ukrainian citizens residing in the Gaza Strip, Korniychuk said.
According to Korniychuk, it is more complicated to evacuate Ukrainians from Gaza, the narrow sliver of land home to 2.3 million Palestinians that is currently under heavy Israeli missile attack and a blockade.
The ambassador added that about 160 Ukrainian citizens registered with a Ukrainian consul are currently working in Gaza.
Korniychuk said the most probable way to evacuate Ukrainians from Gaza is via Egypt, where the United States promised to open additional checkpoints.
The embassy gives priority to Ukrainian citizens who are in Israel as tourists or are there to visit their relatives or religious sites, he said.
Answering RFE/RL's question about the possible involvement of Iran and Russia in masterminding the ongoing violence, Korniychuk said Israeli officials are confident that Iran was behind the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli villages that left hundreds dead and caused Israel's ongoing offensive against the Gaza-based extremist organization.
Iran has denied involvement.
"As for Russia, Israeli government's position toward Russia has always been cautious," Korniychuk said, adding that he is confident that evidence proving Russia's involvement will come up gradually and the Israeli government will have to change its policies toward Moscow.
"Today there are huge portraits of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and Arab terrorists hanging all around [Gaza]. What else can we talk about here?" the ambassador said.
