Brazil removes another 215 citizens from Israel on the fifth repatriation flight

O A Brazilian Air Force plane departed from Tel Aviv airport and is expected to arrive in Rio de Janeiro in the early hours of Sunday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expects that another 10 flights will be needed to complete the removal of the 2,700 Brazilians who expressed interest in being repatriated.

“Everyone who wants to leave, will leave,” said Brazil’s ambassador to Israel, Fred Meyer, quoted in an official statement.

Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, a group of 16 Brazilians began their journey to the south of the territory, where another dozen citizens are waiting to try to cross the border with Egypt.

Brazil’s presidential plane landed on Friday in Rome, Italy, with the intention of flying to Egypt and taking the Brazilians from there when the Government of the African country authorizes entry into its territory.

The Islamist group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel a week ago with thousands of rockets and the incursion of armed militiamen by land, sea and air.

In response, Israel bombed several Hamas infrastructures in the Gaza Strip from the air and imposed a total siege on the territory, cutting off water, fuel and electricity supplies.

The attacks have already caused thousands of deaths and injuries in both territories.

In the last few hours, an Israeli ultimatum to the population of northern Gaza caused the flight of hundreds of thousands of inhabitants from a region that has 1.1 million people, that is, half of the enclave’s total population, due to fears of an imminent large-scale land incursion by the Israeli army.

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