Two groups of Cypriot tourists in Israel are returning on Sunday, the foreign ministry said, after fighting broke out when Israeli forces clashed with Hamas, after the latter launched a surprise attack.
According to the foreign ministry, no Cypriots living in Tel Aviv for either study or work have been injured.
The ministry said that only one of three groups of Cypriot tourists, with around 100 people each, communicated with Cyprus’ authorities to inform them they would be returning later Sunday.
From what the ministry was informed by the one group, there are severe delays at the Tel Aviv airport from the onset of the violence. The second group is set to return later in the day as well, while the ministry is still attempting to secure the third group returns as well.
A ministry source also said that so far, no injuries of any Cypriots living mostly in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem have been reported.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces clashed with gunmen from the Palestinian group Hamas, 24 hours after the militants launched a surprise attack on Israel in which nearly 500 people were killed in the deadliest day of violence in Israel for 50 years.
The biggest incursion into Israel in decades could undermine US-backed efforts to forge regional security alignments that could threaten Palestinian aspirations for statehood and the ambitions of the group’s main backer, Iran.
Hamas fighters began their attack at dawn on Saturday with a huge barrage of rockets into southern Israel, giving cover to an unprecedented, multi-pronged infiltration of fighters into Israel from Gaza, a narrow strip that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians.
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