Five Singaporeans among people evacuated from Israel by South Korean government: MFA

SINGAPORE: Five Singaporeans were among the people evacuated from Israel on a military transport flight organised by the South Korean government amid the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

Responding to a CNA query on Sunday (Oct 15), Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) confirmed that five Singaporeans and a family member were on board the flight, which left Tel Aviv on Saturday.

“Since the outbreak of the conflict, MFA has been rendering consular assistance to Singaporeans in Israel and the Palestinian Territories,” MFA said.

“The Singapore embassies in Tel Aviv and Seoul worked closely with their host governments and Republic of Korea embassy counterparts to facilitate the Singaporean families’ departure from Tel Aviv to Seoul, and their safe return to Singapore,” the ministry added, referring to South Korea by its official name.

“The Singapore government would like to express its deep appreciation to the government of the Republic of Korea for facilitating the safe evacuation of its citizens.”

South Korea’s Air Force deployed a KC-330 multipurpose aircraft to evacuate its citizens on Friday, it said in a Facebook post on Saturday. 

The aircraft departed from Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport the next day carrying a total of 220 people, including 163 South Korean citizens. Fifty-one Japanese citizens were also among those evacuated.

MFA had earlier advised Singaporeans living in Israel and the Palestinian Territories to leave as soon as possible via commercial options. 

It added that Singaporeans should avoid all non-essential travel to Israel in view of the Israel-Hamas conflict.