If the situation escalates, it will be impossible to physically evacuate the Armenian community. Chernamoryan

The Armenian community in Israel hopes that the government of Armenia will send an aircraft to evacuate the elderly, women, and children. This was stated by Artem Chernamoryan, the president of the Nairi Union in Petah Tikva and the editor-in-chief of the 'Armenians of Israel' newspaper, in an interview with NEWS.am.

“A few hours ago, major cities in the country were bombed. The southern regions, where many Armenians live, remain very tense. Our community hopes that the Armenian government will send an aircraft to evacuate the elderly, women, and children, at least the residents of cities in the southern regions. In the meantime, we are continuing our work, our union is gathering people, we have contact with the government, and we are now waiting for the aircraft. There are families with conscripted children, or those who cannot leave the country; some will stay behind. However, I emphasize that it is very important now to evacuate women, children, and the elderly. At this moment, I am truly worried because the city has been bombed twice during the day, and I fear that a serious strike is being prepared. If the situation escalates, it will be impossible to physically evacuate the Armenian community. Our community will inevitably have casualties before we can even think about evacuation,” he said, noting that they have compiled a list of citizens who wish to be evacuated and return to Armenia.

Chernamoryan indicated that they are in contact with the Armenian embassy and government in Israel and have informed everyone about those wanting to evacuate and the current situation. However, significant issues are related to flights in Israel. “Today, there is an embassy, there is an ambassador, people are working on this issue, and we hope that we can organize an evacuation. Airlines are simply avoiding flying to Tel Aviv because insurance companies do not approve it; the risk is very high if an aircraft is hit by a missile. Who will be responsible?” he stated.

Chernamoryan revealed that the situation in Jerusalem is relatively calm, although there are occasional clashes with Arabs within the city, but there are no active military operations. He noted that there are about 10,000 Armenians living in Israel, with 500 living in heavily bombed cities, and around 3,000 Armenians living in the central part of the country, which is under missile attack.