Canadians who fled Israel due to the war that has raged in the Middle Eastern country for nearly a week in the wake of the Hamas attack began returning home Friday evening as the escalation Tensions are pushing hundreds of additional Canadians to seek help to leave the region.
The first Air Canada emergency flight between Athens, Greece, and the Toronto airport landed shortly before 7:30 p.m. Friday evening. Other Canadians were able to board scheduled flights, including one landing in Montreal early in the evening.
In order to get on these flights, people stuck in Israel first had to find a way out of the country. Canada therefore deployed two CC-150 Polaris aircraft from the Canadian Armed Forces to operate between Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv and Athens.
“To date, nearly 430 passengers have left Israel on Canadian flights to Athens. These flights included hundreds of Canadians as well as Israelis, Americans, Australians, Greeks and Brazilians. We will continue to facilitate flights on Saturday,” Global Affairs Canada said in a statement released Friday evening.
Air Canada is also planning a second emergency flight on Saturday. The plane, which can hold up to 300 passengers, will land again in Toronto.
For her part, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly arrived in Tel Aviv on Friday for a visit to Israel and Jordan, where she will discuss the impacts of the Hamas attack on Israel and the deterioration of the humanitarian situation. in Gaza.
The 150 people with a connection to Canada inside the Gaza Strip, that is to say Canadian citizens, but also their foreign relatives and possibly permanent residents, are among the minister’s urgent concerns.
Canada’s top consular official says Canadians may have a short window of time Saturday afternoon to cross the Egyptian border.
The situation still remains volatile.
“We know that this has been a terrible week for Canadians in Gaza,” said Julie Sunday, assistant deputy minister, consular services, security and emergency management sector at Global Affairs Canada, on Friday during a press briefing on Parliament Hill, Ottawa. It’s an incredibly difficult situation out there right now. »
She said approximately 2,200 Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank have requested consular assistance to leave the region.
The demands come as the Israeli military on Friday asked around a million Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza and head to the southern part of the cordoned-off coastal enclave ahead of an expected ground invasion. The United Nations has warned that this would be impossible and potentially catastrophic within 24 hours.
In a televised speech on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “destroy” Hamas, as the army prepares for an expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Mme Sunday assured that Ottawa was still evaluating the best way to help Canadians stuck in the region. She noted that there is no guarantee that the crossing Egypt intends to open at the southern end of Gaza will eventually be available.
“We’re not going to tell Canadians to travel until we know it’s a possibility,” said Ms.me Sunday.
Exit doors
Meanwhile, military flights from Tel Aviv to Athens continue for Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their families seeking to leave Israel.
Canadians are still able to find commercial flights from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, Ms.me Sunday, adding that there had been “a number of no-shows at the airport” on Thursday.
“Our hypothesis is that individuals have found alternative routes and are trying to get out as quickly as possible,” she said.
The war, sparked after Hamas carried out surprise attacks across the Israeli border from Gaza on Saturday, has already claimed more than 3,200 lives on both sides.
According to Mme As of Sunday, approximately 6,500 Canadians are registered in Israel and another 485 in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza. She noted that Canada’s travel advisories are frequently updated, particularly on how people who live in these areas can best limit their exposure to danger.
With information from Dylan Robertson