Interview with the Foreign and Trade Minister.Continue reading
On Saturday morning, the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas fired thousands of rockets at Israel. Israel immediately launched a counter-offensive and war has broken out. Since then, Israel and the Gaza Strip have been thrown into chaos. The Hungarian government reacted to the war, recognizing Israel’s right to self-defense.
Hungary condemns the brutal terrorist attack on Israel, recognizes Israel’s right to self-defense, and expresses its sincere sympathy to the government and people of Israel for their losses, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said. “I assured my Israeli counterpart of Hungary’s support and sympathy,” the Minister emphasized on his Facebook page.
On Saturday, the minister said that they are in constant contact with more than a hundred Hungarian citizens in Israel. As he wrote, they are not aware of any Hungarian casualties or injuries. Furthermore, there are “currently 11 Hungarian citizens in the Gaza Strip, most of them minors. All families have been contacted and are doing well under the circumstances and are planning to leave the zone depending on the evolution of events,” he noted. On Sunday evening, he reported that
two Hungarian Air Force planes had evacuated 215 Hungarians from Israel to Hungary as part of a joint rescue operation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Ministry of Defense.
They landed in Budapest early Sunday morning, he added. The minister stressed that one of their most important tasks during the armed conflict in Israel is to bring the Hungarian people in danger home as soon as possible. He also thanked the authorities of Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania for their cooperation in quickly issuing the necessary permits for the flights.
Update: On Monday, the minister announced that there were still more than a hundred Hungarian citizens who wanted to go home, so one of the planes made another round trip to Tel Aviv and took another 110 people on board. As part of the government’s rescue operation, the Hungarian Air Force evacuated a total of 325 people, including 46 children, from Israel in three planes overnight.
Katalin Novák, President of the Republic of Hungary, also spoke out on the terrorist attack and the war that broke out as a result. In a post on X, she wrote: “I strongly condemn the attacks against Israel that claim human lives. Hungary affirms its unwavering support for Israel.” She also stressed that she sympathizes with Israeli Head of State Isaac Herzog and the Jewish people in these difficult hours and keeps them in her prayers.
I strongly condemn the attacks against #Israel that claim human lives. #Hungary affirms its unwavering support for Israel . My thoughts and prayers with @Isaac_Herzog and the Jewish people in these difficult times. pic.twitter.com/IcBm016Em8
— Katalin Novák (@KatalinNovak_HU) October 7, 2023
On Sunday, in an interview with Magyar Nemzet, Yacov Hadas-Handelsman, Israeli Ambassador to Hungary said of the war that has just broken out:
“From our point of view, yesterday is a combination of September 11 in the U.S. and the massacre in Bucha, Ukraine.”
He pointed out that rockets were being indiscriminately rained down on Israeli settlements by Hamas, while thousands of terrorists were infiltrating the country. The ambassador concluded by expressing his gratitude to the Hungarian government and political institutions for their support.
Via MTI, Magyar Nemzet; Featured image: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter