ATHENS

The Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Poland announced on Monday that they are preparing to evacuate their nationals from Israel for their own safety, amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Iran.

Citing the Czech Foreign Ministry, public broadcaster Radio Prague said: “A repatriation flight is being sent to evacuate Czech citizens from Israel, where they registered with the embassy in Tel Aviv.”

Czech Ambassador to Israel Veronika Kuchynova Smigolova explained that a convoy carrying Czech citizens evacuating Israel set off on Monday morning toward the border of a neighboring country which she declined to name due to security concerns.

The government plane with a capacity of about 80 seats is expected to be essentially full, she said, adding that there may be more evacuation flights in the future.

Likewise, Poland’s Defense Ministry announced that free flights will evacuate some 200 Polish nationals now in Israel, according to public broadcaster TVP.

It noted that the evacuations are expected to involve a journey by land to Amman, Jordan, followed by flights back to Poland.

They could also be evacuated by sea, it added.

Moreover, Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre head Vilmantas Vitkauskas said the country’s citizens in Israel will be evacuated by land as the country’s airspace is closed.

Evacuees will travel from Tel Aviv to border crossings with Jordan or Egypt, and from there be flown out, most likely on a chartered flight from King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba, Jordan.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov also said Monday said there is a concrete plan for the evacuation of Bulgarian citizens from Israel, but the government is waiting for the most opportune moment, reported the state-run BTA news agency.