AGERPRES special correspondent to Lisbon, Portugal, Florentina Peia reports:

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Saturday that around 800-900 Romanians are in Israel, many of them tourists, and that solutions are being sought to bring home to Romania those who want to return to the country quickly, which will be possible soon.

„There are quite a lot of Romanians in Israel at the moment. From the data we have so far, there are between 800-900 Romanians, many are tourists, others are on pilgrimages. For now, we have no information that they are in jeopardy, but, as they say, the situation is evolving and at any moment something new may happen. We are already looking for solutions to bring those who want to return quickly to the country. That will be soon possible I think. The Tel Aviv airport is closed, but we are working on it,” Iohannis told a joint news conference at Belem Palace with his Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

He said that Romania’s Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu is part of the official retinue on his ongoing state visit to Portugal.

„Obviously, from the first moment we discussed and have been in contact with all parties, with our embassy and others,” said Iohannis.

He added that officials of embassies and consulates are available to Romanians for any information, advice or consular assistance.

„It is, from this point of view, a sad state of affairs, and I hope that this attack will be over soon,” said Iohannis.

He strongly condemned Saturday’s attacks on Israel that left many dead or injured.

„Romania is standing in solidarity with Israel and reiterating its support for Israel’s sovereign right to self-defence,” Iohannis also said.

The Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE) previously informed that, at the request of Minister Odobescu, a task force was activated at MAE that is in permanent contact with the Romanian Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Romanian Representative Office in Ramallah, as well as and with the EU Delegation in Israel, carefully monitoring the state of affairs on the ground in order to offer support to Romanian nationals who request consular assistance.

Israel and the Gaza Strip went to war again on Saturday after the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas launched a surprise offensive, hurling thousands of rockets and infiltrating fighters into Israeli territory by land, sea and air, international agencies report.

At least 40 people were killed on Saturday in Israel since the start of the Hamas offensive. At the same time, according to the Israeli Ministry of Health, 779 injured people were rushed to Israeli hospitals.

On the other hand, at least nine people were killed in the Gaza Strip after Israel responded to the Hamas attack with airstrikes on the territory controlled by the Islamist movement, the AFP news agency reported.

At the same time, at least 50 people were being held hostage by Palestinian militants who entered Israel, the EFE news agency quoted Palestinian sources as saying.