We are bringing a cat with us

The Israelis released the Slavs from the Gaza Strip

Today, a plane from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations will fly to the Jordanian capital Amman to pick up 69 Russians and seven Belarusian citizens who fled from the Gaza Strip captured by Islamists to Moscow. Yesterday, they were transported through Israeli territory on buses ordered by the Russian Embassy in Tel Aviv to the Jordanian border from the Eretz checkpoint in the north of the sector. The Israeli border guards were polite and courteous, because the controls were mainly women and children.

In total, as of yesterday, 157 Russians and 19 citizens of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Moldova were included in the evacuation lists . Many women refused to evacuate because, according to Israeli authorities, their adult children and Palestinian husbands did not have documents confirming the right to leave. Some were unable to get to Eretz on time or were simply afraid to leave their homes.

The Israelis were also kind to the citizens of Ukraine, who arrived at Eretz before the Russians and Belarusians. Already yesterday evening a group of 91 people was supposed to fly to Kyiv. A slight hitch occurred due to the lack of a veterinary certificate for a Ukrainian woman’s cat. But the Israeli border guards heeded the pleas of the woman, who said that she would not leave without her elderly pet, and let both of them through.

Israel yesterday ended a 15-month boycott of the Palestinian government imposed after it was formed by the Islamist Hamas movement in March last year. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, in her first telephone conversation with the new Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, appointed to this post by the head of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas, expressed hope that the creation of a new autonomy government will lead to “progress in solving pressing problems, including advancing the peace process "

The Hamas leadership yesterday welcomed Egypt's offer to mediate negotiations with the Fatah organization led by Abbas. Following the military defeat of his supporters in Gaza last week, the Fatah Central Committee cut off contacts with Hamas on Tuesday. The Fatah leadership declares that it is impossible to resume dialogue with radicals until the return of power in Gaza to Mahmoud Abbas.

Alexander SAMOKHOTKIN