While the number of injured continues to rise between Israel and Gaza, French people residing in Israel are desperate to leave but non-priority people are struggling to get information.
A special flight chartered by Air France to repatriate French people present in Israel will take off from Tel Aviv on Thursday October 12 at 4:40 p.m. On board the plane 381 places for French nationals, priority travelers, sick elderly people, unaccompanied minors, pregnant women, people with disabilities.
>> Follow the latest information on the war between Israel and Hamas in our live stream
It will be the same for the next special flights, “probably scheduled for Friday or Saturday”, said Wednesday October 11 on franceinfo Catherine Colonna, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs. For the least vulnerable people, you will therefore have to wait
Gilbert will not be on the plane today. He is certainly 84 years old, but he is not sick and therefore not a priority for this special flight, nor for the next ones planned between now and the end of the week. He is stuck in his apartment in Tel Aviv, where he stays several times a year. He tries to find a ticket on the internet on his own. Without success, while daily life becomes more and more distressing.
“If you ever have to run, go to shelters or I don’t know where, at my age we don’t run that much anymore. And then the atmosphere, you still have to endure it. In the space of half an hour , there were maybe 20 alerts. It bothers me to stay here.”
Gilbert, 84, resident in Tel Avivat franceinfo
Nathalie arrived in Israel a few days before the start of the conflict, to participate in an event with peace activists. Since then, she has been immersed in the middle of the war, without a ticket to quickly return home to Montpellier. “I understand that we prioritize vulnerable people, but we could have been told ‘there are five planes that will take off in the space of so many days and you could be on one of those’, something which allows you to have a little visibility. I am French and I am waiting for my government to come and help me. I think we have a window that is not very wide to land planes and leave. So If the war becomes widespread, I fear that the airport will no longer be usable.”.
The days are long and terrifying at every moment, she adds.
Israel: the anguish of the French on the spot – Testimonies collected by Farida Nouar