The first group of injured people from the Gaza Strip was evacuated to Egypt on Wednesday, according to an agreement brokered by Qatar. However, according to information from the N1 portal, the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina have not yet had their turn, but it is also uncertain when that could happen.
As a reminder, the evacuees were transported by ambulances across the Rafah border crossing. According to the agreement reached between Egypt, Israel and Hamas, a certain number of foreign passport holders and seriously wounded people will be allowed to leave the besieged area.
However, as BiH ambassador to Egypt, Sabit Subasic, told the portal N1, 54 of our citizens are still waiting for evacuation.
“Persons who are on the list of the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina are waiting for evacuation. The situation is very difficult. There are eight thousand foreign citizens waiting for evacuation. Everyone is in the same situation. The process started two days ago. Yesterday, a certain number of citizens from several states were evacuated. We are waiting, like many other embassies, to go there. We cannot decide when we will be invited. Nor are the embassies of other countries to decide that,” Subašić said.
Among other things, he pointed out that the decision-making process depends on the relationship between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt and Israel.
“You can’t even know approximately when that might happen. The decision-making process between the ministries of foreign affairs of Egypt and Israel, they coordinate it. Israel dictates the lists and decides who will be evacuated. I received information that Israel works in its own way according to its own rules”.
Subasic told N1 that according to the available information, none of the citizens of BiH were injured.
“I am in contact with our citizens. No one was hurt. It is a very difficult situation. Fortunately, we have no dead or injured. I have contact with our people who are available. Everyone is eagerly waiting to be evacuated”, concluded Subašić for N1.
Israel declared war on the militant group Hamas a day after its fighters breached the heavily fortified border on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.
After the deadliest attack in its history, Israel launched a bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip that leveled settlements and killed thousands of people, mostly civilians.
After the Israeli order to move to the south of the Gaza Strip, residents left their homes in the north of the enclave in search of shelters, including in schools run by the UN.