On Friday evening, a new bus arrived with evacuees from Gaza to Cairo, reports VG. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday evening that 146 Norwegian citizens will be allowed out of Gaza on Saturday. There are a total of 270 people with Norwegian citizenship or who have a strong connection to Norway who have asked for assistance to get out. It is uncertain whether any of these will be able to join the first flight from Cairo. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs set up a flight with Norwegian from Cairo on Saturday 18 November. The flight is an offer to Norwegian citizens who have come out of Gaza. – Being able to organize a home transport is not necessarily easy for everyone and that is the reason why we have set up that plane. This is what Siri Svendsen in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) says to news on Friday evening. Contacting people She further states that there are a total of 270 Norwegians who have asked for help to be evacuated from the Gaza Strip. 100 of these have made it to Cairo, while 146 others have been given permission to cross the border into Egypt on Saturday. – We are in the process of contacting them this evening, says Svendsen. She confirms that those who take the flight to Norway on Saturday must cover the expenses themselves, but that this is normal practice. So far, 49 Norwegian citizens have gotten out of Gaza on Friday. – We are happy that yet another large group of Norwegian citizens has now come out of Gaza. A large part of these are children who have lived with great uncertainty and under very difficult conditions for a long time. Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide says so in a press release. – To ensure that everyone gets home safely and quickly, we now set up a flight to Norway. We are happy that Norwegian is making aircraft available, says Eide. On Friday, there was heavy traffic at Rafah, which is the border between Gaza and Egypt. Photo: AFP Get a bill in the mail Around half of the Norwegian citizens who have come to Egypt from Gaza are children. – Those who travel have different health needs. In addition to representatives of the foreign service, there will therefore be Norwegian health personnel on the plane, says Eide. Those who travel by plane will have their expenses paid in advance, but must expect to receive an invoice in the post after they have returned home. – As always with assisted departure, each individual has to pay for tickets and accommodation, and the same is the case here. The same was the case for the Norwegians who traveled from Israel earlier during this crisis. This is what Siri Svendsen in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told news on Friday evening. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote to news that it is a fundamental principle that the individual is responsible for covering the expenses themselves. The price the Ministry of Foreign Affairs operates with, and which they send an invoice for, is NOK 6,500 for adults, NOK 1,500 for children between 2 and 18 years of age and free for children under 2 years of age. – This includes flights, visas, border crossings, buses, hotels, all food and emergency passes, writes UD. The image shows how a large number of people are fleeing towards the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Photo: – / AFP On their way to Cairo 49 Norwegian citizens have got out of Gaza today, the Foreign Ministry reports. The Norwegian citizens were met at the border by a team from Norwegian authorities consisting of medical personnel, employees from the embassy in Cairo and ID and document experts who helped with the necessary documents. – The Norwegian citizens are now on their way in buses to a reception center in Cairo. Here they will receive practical help, such as health care, document assistance, food and drink and assistance with onward travel from Egypt to Norway. A total of 60 Norwegian citizens were given permission to leave Gaza on Friday, but not all had arrived at the Rafah border post. – It is dangerous to stay and move in Gaza. Everyone has to make assessments of their own safety and ability to move around, says Siri Svendsen. This picture is from when the first bus with Norwegian citizens arrived from Gaza to Cairo this week. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news
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