Poland’s foreign ministry made the announcement on Wednesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The embassy wrote on the X social media platform: “Due to the crisis situation, the Polish Embassy in Tel Aviv announces the suspension of work on all consular issues that aren’t related to organising the evacuation of Polish citizens who are staying on a temporary basis on Israeli territory.”
Officials added that this focus would continue until further notice.
Poland’s foreign ministry has made available two helplines for Polish citizens after the Hamas attack in Israel, one in Poland at + 48 22 523 88 80 and another in Israel at + 972 372 53 111, as well as a designated email address: ewakuacja@msz.gov.pl, state news agency PAP reported.
The war in Israel erupted on Saturday when the Palestinian organisation Hamas breached the border in an unprecedented surprise attack from Gaza, according to news outlets.
By Wednesday morning, the death toll in Israel had reached 1,200, British broadcaster the BBC reported.
Israel launched air strikes on Gaza and also announced a siege of the area, cutting its supplies of electricity, fuel, and water, according to the BBC.
The Israeli air strikes have so far killed over 900 people, Palestinian authorities said.
In addition, more than 260,000 people have been displaced from their homes in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli siege and air strikes, with the number likely to rise further, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) said early on Wednesday.
A total of 1,009 housing units have been destroyed in the Israeli attacks, 560 have been severely damaged and rendered uninhabitable, and another 12,630 have sustained less damage, according to the Palestinian authorities.
The Israeli army said it had massed hundreds of thousands of troops near Gaza, “ready to execute the mission that we have been given by the Israeli government - and that is to make sure that Hamas at the end of this war won't have any military capabilities by which they can threaten or kill Israeli civilians," the BBC reported.
Meanwhile, Israel on Wednesday also shelled towns in southern Lebanon, in response to anti-tank rockets launched from Lebanon, the Reuters news agency reported.
The Israeli army did not immediately provide details on casualties, according to news outlets.
The powerful Lebanese armed group Hezbollah later said it had fired precision missiles at an Israeli position in response to the killing of its members in Israeli shelling earlier this week, according to Reuters.
On Tuesday, Hamas and Hezbollah both claimed attacks on Israel from Lebanon, Reuters reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters, OCHA, BBC
