Countries started evacuating their citizens from Israel amid the ongoing tensions following Hamas' surprise attacks over the weekend.
Swiss International Air Lines will send a special flight from Zurich to Tel Aviv Tuesday to repatriate Swiss nationals after the shock Hamas assault on Israel while Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Jakkapong Sangmanee said nearly 1,500 Thais had requested evacuation, and the first group of 15 were expected to leave Wednesday.
"The first group that we will evacuate will be injured people who already left the risk area," he told reporters.
He said Thailand was working with other countries with links to the Palestinians to secure the release of its citizens taken hostage.
Meanwhile, an Airbus A321 with 219 seats will leave Tel Aviv at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, it said in a statement.
"Swiss nationals will thus have the opportunity to return home as soon as possible," the airline said on Monday.
"The flight can only be booked via a special hotline communicated by the foreign ministry to Swiss nationals and travelers in Israel."
Israel imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip on Monday and cut off water supply as it kept bombing targets in the crowded Palestinian enclave in response to the Hamas attack it has likened to 9/11.
SWISS said it was canceling all its scheduled flights to and from Tel Aviv until Saturday.
Before the conflict erupted, the Lufthansa subsidiary operated 14 flights per week between the two cities.
Around 28,000 Swiss nationals and their families are officially registered as living in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Around 430 people with links to Switzerland are registered on the foreign ministry's Travel Admin app.
Similarly, a Portuguese military plane departed Monday afternoon on a rescue mission to pick up citizens in Israel, according to the Portuguese Foreign Ministry.
Shortly after the ministry released its statement, Portugal's state airline TAP announced it would cancel all flights to and from Tel Aviv – its only destination in Israel.
It said any passengers with tickets through to the end of October can request a refund or reschedule their journeys.
Foreign Ministry said the Portuguese Air Force Hercules C-130 should arrive in Tel Aviv by Monday night.
It is ready to pick up at least 80 nationals, including tourists and residents in Israel, who have contacted the Consular Emergency Office to request support in fleeing the country.
Around 60,000 Israelis had Portuguese citizenship in 2022. Many of those passports were obtained after Lisbon started granting citizenship to people whose Jewish ancestors were expelled from Portugal during the Inquisition.
On Monday, a march supporting Palestine has been organized in Lisbon. Organizers insist they have no affinity with Hamas but recognize "the right of the Palestinian people to resist colonial occupation."
This weekend, Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa said the "terrorist attacks against Israel are unacceptable and deserve our strongest condemnation."
Gaza-based resistance group Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel early Saturday, firing a barrage of rockets. It said the surprise attack was in response to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and growing settler violence.
In retaliation, the Israeli army launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza has risen to 560, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said on Monday amid ongoing fighting. It also said the number of injured surged to 2,900.
The Interior Ministry in Gaza said the Israeli army has "intensified its aggression" on Gaza with hundreds of raids.
The Israeli army said it had struck over 500 targets in overnight raids on Gaza, which they claimed were targets belonging to the Hamas and Islamic militant groups.
At least 800 Israelis have been killed and over 2,616 others wounded in the fighting, according to local media.
