(new: further details on costs)

BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The German Foreign Office has informed Germans seeking to leave Israel about the possibilities of leaving the country by special Lufthansa flight following the attack by Islamist Hamas. In a message from the German Embassy in Tel Aviv to Germans who had registered on the Elefand advance list for crisis information, available to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, it says that Lufthansa has agreed to offer up to four flights from Tel Aviv this Thursday and Friday. These are special flights on behalf of the German Foreign Office.

According to information from the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, four flights per day are planned, two of which are to go to Munich and two to Frankfurt. On both days, departure times were to be at 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. (local time). Accordingly, the flights are expected to have a total capacity of about 1000 people per day.

In Elefand - the precautionary list for direct crisis information - 4500 people had registered at the beginning of the week, according to a spokesman on Monday.

For participation in the special flights, according to the so-called Landsleutebrief, a fee of 300 euros per person is due, which would be collected directly by a Lufthansa hotline on behalf of the German Foreign Ministry when booking the flight. According to dpa information, Lufthansa will charge 550 euros per person, 250 euros will be covered by the state. Those affected are also advised that getting to the airport is their own responsibility. "Weigh any risks carefully," the letter continues. Changes are possible at any time due to the volatile security situation, it said. Therefore, the Foreign Office cannot guarantee that the flights can actually take place as planned.

The information also states that a flight can only be booked if one has registered in Elefand. Family members registered there can also be booked via the hotline. For foreign family members, the regular entry regulations to Germany would apply - all persons would have to be in possession of valid travel documents and, if necessary, visas or residence permits.

According to the German Foreign Office, Lufthansa is still checking whether scheduled flights will be possible again from Sunday. The airline Easyjet is also examining the possibility of offering flights from Tel Aviv again in the next few days./bk/DP/he