Japan helps evacuate Vietnamese from Israel

An Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) plane carrying 20 Japanese, 15 South Koreans, four Vietnamese and one Taiwanese landed in Japan Friday night, Kyodo News reported.

Last month, the ASDF evacuated 82 people from Israel to Tokyo. Japan has been sending planes to the Middle East ever since the conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out last month. The nation currently has two planes on standby in Jordan to carry out future evacuations.

When the conflict broke out, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested Israel to ensure maximum safety for Vietnamese citizens and their families. The ministry also began preparing its own citizen protection measures to be implemented as needed.

Vietnamese ambassador in Israel Ly Duc Trung said that if conflicts escalate in northern regions or major cities, there are already plans to move Vietnamese in Israel to safer areas in the country at least 100 km away from Gaza or the northern border.

If the situation becomes more dire, and safe areas no longer exist, Vietnamese citizens would be evacuated to nearby countries, including Jordan, according to the ambassador.