Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho said that on October 14, a week after the Hamas attack on Israel that started the current conflict in the region, a group of Portuguese were in the Gaza Strip.
In an interview with TVI, the minister said there were a “small number” of Portuguese living in Gaza and that he was in contact with Israel and Egypt so they could leave the area.
“We have data on a small number of Portuguese in Gaza, Portuguese and non-Portuguese family members, but family members. We have already conveyed this information to the Egyptian and Israeli authorities and naturally expect the possibility that these people will leave the country. Gaza,” he said.
The minister did not even specify whether there was any plan for the withdrawal of troops or the exact number of Portuguese who were in the Gaza Strip, which was surrounded by Israeli forces and from which thousands of people fled.
On November 10, DN, citing official sources, reported that the Foreign Ministry was preparing a humanitarian operation to evict 64 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
According to DN, permission for this plan was treated with extreme restraint and depended at the time on the Israeli authorities, who received a list of names.
According to the newspaper, the list also made it to Homeland Security Intelligence (SSI), which gave the go-ahead after activating the Anti-Terrorism Coordination Team (UCAT) for a security review.
On November 13, Gomes Cravinho confirmed in Brussels that Portugal was preparing to withdraw 16 Portuguese and a “wider group” of Palestinians with ties to the country from the Gaza Strip through Egypt.
“From the very beginning we have been in constant contact with the Israeli and Egyptian authorities and we have the opportunity to temporarily house them for two or three days in Egypt and transport them to Portugal. I wouldn’t want to be dramatic with this guy. In terms of terminology, the rescue operation is simply the withdrawal of the Portuguese from Egypt, from the moment they can leave the Gaza Strip,” he said on Wednesday in Brussels following a meeting of EU heads of diplomacy.
On Wednesday in Bissau, the minister expressed regret over the deaths of three Portuguese citizens in the Gaza Strip, including two minors, as well as two family members.
Egyptian authorities, together with Israel, have authorized the departure “in the next few hours from the Gaza Strip of ten citizens flying the Portuguese flag, two of whom are Portuguese-Palestinian citizens”, the Portuguese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday evening.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza continues for 40 days after the Islamist group Hamas, classified as a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States, launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli territory on October 7 in which soldiers were killed and kidnapped. and civilians, including children.
According to the Israeli government, Hamas killed more than 1,400 people in Israel and took about 220 hostages, four of whom were later released.
The Israeli military responded by bombing and cutting off supplies of water, food, electricity and fuel to the Gaza Strip, home to more than two million people.
Gaza Strip authorities say more than 11,000 people have been killed in Israeli bombing, including more than 4,000 children.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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