Israel Talking to Indian Officials on Evacuation of Nationals Amid Iran Conflict: Envoy

New Delhi: Tel Aviv is facilitating the evacuation of diplomats and foreign nationals who want to leave Israel and is in touch with Indian officials in this regard, the country's envoy to India Reuven Azar said on Tuesday (June 17) as its military conflict with Iran entered its fifth day.

Israel's transport ministry is organising “evacuation commutes” for diplomats and foreign nationals looking to leave Israel, Azar told reporters in Delhi per The Hindu. He continued: “There are a few options for this, both terrestrial and maritime, and we are discussing these [with Indian authorities as well].”

The newspaper cited officials as saying that the Allenby border crossing between the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Jordan, as well as the Eilat-Taba border crossing with Egypt in southern Israel, were operational. Cruise ships from Israeli ports to Cyprus could also be a possibility, they said.

ANI quoted Azar as saying that “we are fully coordinated with the MEA,” i.e. the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

India's embassy in Tel Aviv late on Tuesday said that Indians looking to leave Israel “may like to avail of the land border crossing options” and advised them to familiarise themselves with the border posts' timings as well as their visa and fee rules. It noted that Indian nationals can apply for eVisas from Jordan and Egypt's governments online.

The embassy also recommended that those Indians who plan on staying in Israel register themselves with it.

With hostilities entering their fifth day on Tuesday, the death toll in Iran is reported to be 224 while in Israel it is 24.

The conflict began on Friday with strikes carried out by Israel, which claimed that Tehran was “closer than ever” to obtaining a nuclear weapon and that given its opposition to Israel's existence, the latter was compelled to launch a “preemptive” attack. Iran has denied pursuing nuclear weapons.

That was followed by Iranian retaliation and the two sides have launched missiles at each other in the days since, including at Tehran, prompting residents of the ten-million-strong city to flee in droves.

Notably, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that “everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran”. He has since called on Iran to surrender unconditionally and said that America is “not going to take … out (kill!)” the country's theocrat Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “at least not for now”.

Earlier in the day the MEA advised Indians “who are self-sufficient in terms of transport” to leave Tehran “in view of the developing situation”. The embassy in the Iranian capital had facilitated the movement of students away from the city and also enabled some Indian nationals to cross into Armenia, it noted.

Azar said Israel is not targeting civilians in Iran. “We're only targeting the places that are connected to the regime capabilities … We have put in a lot of effort calling on the civilian population in Iran to evacuate from areas that are dangerous. This can take time because we have to continue to degrade their capabilities,” he said per ANI.

When asked if India had specifically raised concerns with Israel regarding its attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, the ambassador said that New Delhi had only broadly raised the issue of regional stability.

“For a country like India that is a rapidly rising power, any disturbance to world peace is detrimental to the national interest. So it’s very natural that India will be concerned. We understand those concerns and try to ameliorate what we can,” he told the paper.

Israel has attacked Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz multiple times and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN-associated nuclear watchdog, said on Tuesday that based on satellite imagery it had determined that Israeli strikes have had “direct impacts” on the facility's “underground enrichment halls”.

The body's director general had said on Friday that the Israeli strikes were “deeply concerning” and that he had “repeatedly stated that nuclear facilities must never be attacked, regardless of the context or circumstances, as it could harm both people and the environment”.

Speaking to reporters in Delhi Azar also said that Israel ‘appreciated’ India's disassociation with the statement by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation – of which it is a member along with Iran – condemning Israel's offensive and claimed that he was in touch with “very prominent people” in the Congress party even as its leadership has ‘unequivocally condemned’ Tel Aviv's actions.

“I engage equally with people from all parties and all regions of India … Sometimes people are more critical of you. It doesn’t mean that they are not your friends. They have concerns,” he was quoted as saying.

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