Czech Republic begins evacuating its citizens from Israel

The Czech Republic has begun to bring its citizens out of Israel as Israel and Iran continue to trade deadly strikes.

A convoy left Tel Aviv by land on Monday morning and reached the border of a neighbouring country, the Czech ambassador to Israel, Veronika Kuchyňová Šmigolová, told the CTK news agency.

The name of the country they were taken to was not disclosed for security reasons. From there, they will continue on to Prague on a government plane. Around 80 passengers are expected to be on board.

The Czech Republic is considered one of Israel's closest allies in the European Union.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said he spoke to Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

"I expressed my understanding of the need to halt both Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes, as well as my hope that the situation in the region will soon stabilize, with the power of all radical forces and terrorist organizations being weakened," Fiala wrote on X.