TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan has called on its citizens to leave Israel as soon as possible and has arranged a charter flight for an evacuation planned for Friday (Oct. 20).
The foreign ministry said on Thursday that the decision followed an assessment of rapidly changing local conditions in the area. The flight will depart Tel Aviv for Rome on Friday afternoon.
The ministry urged all citizens who have not yet contacted Taiwan’s representative office in Israel regarding the flight to do so immediately. Taiwan’s representatives in Israel will continue to maintain contact and provide assistance to Taiwanese in the region, the ministry said.
The ministry also said that if the charter flight has additional seats available, they will be made available to citizens of countries friendly to Taiwan. Contact details for Taiwan’s representative office in Israel can be found here.
Thursday’s statement marks a rapid turnaround for the foreign ministry, notably one day after Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) was in a shouting match with an opposition legislator over the issue. On Wednesday, Wu said all Taiwanese citizens in Israel had been contacted, and none had requested evacuation.
