37 Bulgarians and their families want to leave the Gaza Strip

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not been informed of any kidnapped Bulgarian citizen. The embassy in Tel Aviv is in contact with our embassy, said Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel on October 18.

Currently, 37 Bulgarian citizens and their family members have sought assistance to leave Gaza.

"We are in contact with the embassies in Tel Aviv, Cairo and Ramallah, seeking assistance for their evacuation. Such is not possible at the moment as there is no arrangement to open Rafah crossing," Gabriel explained.

"We have a list of those seeking evacuation and their families. This list has been handed over to the Israeli and Egyptian authorities. We are awaiting permission for them to leave Gaza and enter Egypt. Our embassies in Ramallah and Tel Aviv stand ready to assist them to leave Gaza whenever possible," the Foreign Minister said.

Gabriel recalled that just days ago she had given instructions to increase the level of security in our diplomatic missions, including in Lebanon.

"We are monitoring the situation to react if there is an escalation," she summed up.