Ukraine has evacuated 315 people from Gaza, including 304 Ukrainian nationals, two Palestinians, and nine Moldovans, from the besieged Gaza Strip, the country's military intelligence agency (HUR) said on Dec. 10.
HUR's spokesperson confirmed to the Kyiv independent in writing that the amount is the total number of people evacuated by Ukraine since the start of hostilities.
The evacuation of foreigners from Gaza began on Nov. 1 when Egypt finally opened the Rafah checkpoint, and the first Ukrainians were allowed to leave on Nov. 7, a month after Hamas launched its attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
The evacuees included two wounded people, a cancer patient, a pregnant woman, and two people who helped Ukrainian military intelligence in the war zone, HUR said, announcing the successful completion of evacuation.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 8 that Ukraine had evacuated a group of nearly 40 Ukrainians.
By the end of a week long truce that expired on Dec. 1, Ukraine had managed to evacuate a total of 259 people from Gaza, according to Ukraine's Ambassador to Israel Yevhen Korniichuk.
Korniichuk also said that another 146 Ukrainians had requested to be evacuated from Gaza since the start of the ceasefire and the successful completion of the first stage of evacuation.
The fighting in Israel and Gaza broke out after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli settlements in early October.
Tel Aviv responded with retaliatory airstrikes against Gaza, a total blockade of the enclave, and a ground offensive. Thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed on both sides.
As of Oct. 23, more than 500 Ukrainians have been evacuated from Israel. Some 19 Ukrainian citizens have been confirmed as killed in Israel, and four others in Gaza, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Anastasiia Lapatina
(Updated: )
