At least two Hongkongers, along with more than 100 Chinese students, have been evacuated from Israel, as the country’s conflict with Iran entered its eighth day.
China’s official state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday that the two Hongkongers were among a group of 119 Chinese nationals who entered Egypt on Thursday via the Taba border crossing, located at the southern end of Israel.
Also on Thursday, Hong Kong issued a “black” travel alert – the most serious level of its kind, meaning a “severe threat” – for Israel and Iran, warning against all travel to the two countries.
Hong Kong’s Immigration Department told HKFP on Friday that it had received 19 calls for assistance from Hongkongers currently in the two countries. 18 of them had left the countries while the authorities maintained contact with the remaining Hongkonger for assistance.
A 24-hour hotline was set up for Hongkongers in the two Middle Eastern nations as the government urged them to also seek assistance from the Chinese embassy there.
The armed conflict between Israel and Iran entered the eighth day on Friday as the two longtime enemies continued to trade fire.
The Israeli military said on X on Friday that its fighter jets struck “dozens of military targets in Iran” overnight, including industrial sites used to make missiles and what Israel said were research centres for developing nuclear weapons in Tehran.
Iranian missiles hit a hospital in southern Israel as well as residential buildings in Tel Aviv on Thursday, wounding 240 people, according to AFP.
The White House said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump will decide whether to join Israel’s strikes on Iran “within the next two weeks.”
“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quoted Trump as saying.
Meanwhile, China’s President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for all parties, “especially Israel,” to “cease hostilities as soon as possible” in a phone call with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, according to Xinhua.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday that close to 800 Chinese citizens had been evacuated from Iran since Israel began its strike against the country in the early hours of June 13.
