MOSCOW, August 1 (RIA Novosti) - Most Russian citizens have been evacuated from the Gaza Strip and sent to Egypt with only a few Russian families left in the conflict zone, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
"Amid the continuing standoff in Gaza, the departure of the majority of Russian citizens, as well as citizens of several CIS countries that had applied for help has completed," the ministry said in a statement.
A total of 151 people left Gaza, among them 75 Russian citizens, including eight people from Crimea, 37 Ukrainians, 17 Kazakh, five Moldovans and five Kyrgyz and four Belarusians, according to the ministry.
Russian representatives in Palestine organized the move across the Rafah checkpoint on the border with Egypt with the collaboration of Russian embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv, as well as Israeli authorities and the United Nations institutions in Palestine.
"At the moment, several Russian families (about 50 people), who refused to leave the Strip for various reasons, remain in Gaza. Our mission in Ramallah maintains contact with them in order to provide the necessary help," the ministry said.
The ministry also urged Israel and Palestinian militants to 'break the vicious cycle of violence' and resume a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, after hostilities resumed on Friday, hours after a three-day ceasefire agreement was reached.
Israel and Hamas place the blame on each other for the disruption of the truce. At least 40 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed as fighting again broke out in the war-torn enclave.
Israel launched Operation Protective Edge to put an end to rocket fire from Gaza on July 8. On July 17, the Israeli Army switched to a ground assault largely aimed at locating and destroying rocket launchers and underground tunnels. The ceasefire allowed Israel to continue the destruction of tunnels that Palestinian militants use to smuggle arms and secretly enter Israeli territory.
More than 1,400 Palestinians and nearly 60 Israelis have been killed since the offensive began.
