Three Canadians have been killed and three others are missing in the context of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, confirmed Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly. Two deaths have been confirmed and one death remains presumed. She made the announcement Wednesday morning at a press conference in Ottawa.
“I had the opportunity to speak with the family of Alexandre Look yesterday, and it was one of the most difficult calls of my life,” she admitted. The death of the 33-year-old Montrealer was announced by his family on Monday.
The minister says she maintains constant contact with the families of Canadians still missing, while authorities work with local authorities to obtain information.
Minister Joly, however, did not want to confirm whether Canadians were among the hostages in the region. “I don’t want to increase the value of these hostages and put their lives in danger,” she explained. Mme Joly added that he had been in contact with Israel’s chief hostage negotiator and that a group of experts would be sent to support his team.
Like the rest of the Canadian political class, the minister has repeatedly condemned the “terrorist attack” carried out by the Hamas group, while emphasizing that both Israelis and Palestinians deserve to “live in peace”.
“We know that Hamas is not the Palestinian people. It doesn’t represent their aspirations and offers nothing but more chaos, loss, and heartbreak. The violence must stop, the hostages must be released, and Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives must be protected,” she said at the start of her speech.
Evacuations
Canadian Armed Forces planes will take part in evacuation flights for Canadians from Tel Aviv by the weekend. These flights will be available to all Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their families.
The Canadian military is sending two CC-150 Polaris planes to carry out the evacuations, said General Wayne Eyre, chief of the defense staff. These planes will transport evacuated Canadians to Athens, Greece. From there, an Air Canada plane will bring passengers back to the country.
This evacuation operation is, however, “rare” and “exceptional”, since commercial flights are still available for nationals from Tel Aviv to Greece. “Since there were so many flight cancellations and delays, it created a huge delay. The options [pour les Canadiens à Tel-Aviv] were really becoming more limited,” explained the minister.
The number of flights has not yet been determined and will ultimately depend on the number of Canadians who have registered with Global Affairs Canada. There are 4,249 Canadians currently registered in Israel and 476 Canadians registered in the West Bank and Gaza. Global Affairs Canada responded to approximately 2,000 requests for information.
Canadians in Israel reported being unable to reach the Canadian Embassy over the Thanksgiving weekend and being frustrated by the lack of assistance from the Canadian government. Minister Joly, however, reiterated that the embassy was open and that consular services have been operational 24 hours every day since the attacks began.
As registration with Global Affairs Canada is not mandatory and operates on a voluntary basis, the minister explained that registered Canadians were able to receive information over the weekend.
Mélanie Joly also assured that she was evaluating options for evacuating Canadians stuck in Gaza, “where citizens live in an extremely difficult context.” “We will work with the UN to see what will be possible in the coming days,” she said.