The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it has been in close contact with the more than 200 Taiwanese nationals in Israel and called on them to remain vigilant following a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv on Sunday.
Department of West Asian and African Affairs Deputy Director Chen Yung-po (陳詠博) said 266 Taiwanese citizens are currently in Israel.
Ninety-three of them are Taiwanese married to Israelis and 149 are children or other family members related to the Taiwanese spouses, while 22 are students in Israel and two are Taiwanese visiting the country for short-term business trips, Chen said.
Photo: AFP
So far none of them have told the ministry or Taiwan’s representative office in Tel Aviv that they wish to leave the country following the bomb attack on Sunday, he said.
The ministry and Taiwan’s office in Israel would stay in close contact with them and offer assistance should they wish to leave the country, he said, without elaborating.
Chen was responding to reporters’ questions about whether any Taiwanese citizens in Israel had asked for the government’s help to leave amid escalating tensions in the region.
On Oct. 7 last year, Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,199 people and taking 251 people hostage, sparking an invasion of the West Bank that has killed at least 40,173 people, the Hamas-run health ministry said.
Regional tensions escalated after Iran said it would retaliate against Israel for the assassination of a top Hamas leader in Tehran in late July.
Hamas has claimed responsibility for the bomb explosion in Tel Aviv on Sunday night that Israeli authorities say killed the suspected attacker and injured a civilian.
Following the attack, Taiwan’s office in Tel Aviv called on its citizens in Israel to remain on high alert. In case of emergency, they are advised to call the office at +972 544 275 204.
With the foreign ministry’s assistance, nine Taiwanese citizens were evacuated from Israel in October last year after the war broke out.
Additional reporting by AFP
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