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Manila Bulletin devider World devider Ship evacuating US nationals leaves Israel for Cyprus: AFP

Ship evacuating US nationals leaves Israel for Cyprus: AFP

Published Oct 16, 2023 01:40 pm

HAIFA, Israel - A ship evacuating US nationals from Israel left for Cyprus from the Israeli port of Haifa Monday, an AFP correspondent reported, as war raged between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

With Israel now moving towards a ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave, the US embassy had on Sunday urged its "citizens and their immediate family members with a valid travel document" to depart from Haifa on Monday.

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The 'Rhapsody of the Seas' cruise liner carrying US citizens leaves the Israeli port of Haifa to be evacuated to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus on October 16, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. ( ARIS MESSINIS/ AFP)

The cruise ship is expected to reach the southern port city of Limassol on Tuesday morning, Cypriot foreign ministry spokesperson Theodoros Gotsis told local media.

Gotsis said although the sea route was organised for American citizens by the US embassy in Nicosia in cooperation with Cypriot authorities, there could be other foreign nationals on board.

It was not immediately clear how many passengers had boarded the ship at Haifa.

Cypriot government spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis said Monday that "Cyprus has received 26 requests from 26 different countries to act as an evacuation hub, and the government is responding to the best of its ability.”

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