Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says flights will begin to help Canadians depart Tel Aviv, Israel, by the end of the week with the help of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).
These flights will head to Athens, Greece, Joly said. Air Canada is partnering with the government to fly Canadians, their families and permanent residents back to Canada from Athens.
Efforts are being made to coordinate exits for Canadians and permanent residents who are unable to get to Tel Aviv. Joly encouraged people in the region to register with Global Affairs Canada to get timely updates.
Joly said that this is a rare course of action, especially as commercial flights are still available out of Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. However, many calls about cancelled and delayed flights caused Canada to decide on assistance.
“Because there were so many cancellations and also flights that were just indefinitely delayed and people were not getting a real answer whether they would be rebooked, it created a big backlog,” Joly said.
Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre says the first of two CC-150 Airbuses is expected to touch down in Athens around midday Wednesday. From there, the CAF and Global Affairs staff will run a series of logistic exercises before beginning shuttle flights between Athens and Tel Aviv.
Joly remarked that this is the second assisted departure Canada has had to arrange in six months, following the evacuation in Sudan at the end of April. Both she and Eyre say they expect this rare course of action to becoming more common.
“There’s going to be more in the future as the world security situation continues to deteriorate,” Eyre said.
Joly reiterated Canada’s condemnation of Hamas’ coordinated attacks on Saturday, which killed more than 1,000 people in Israel. Retaliatory airstrikes in Gaza have killed more than 800 Palestinians.
“The pain and suffering we continue to bear witness to cannot be measured,” Joly said.
Two Canadians are confirmed to have been killed in Israel, with a third presumed dead, said Julie Sunday, assistant deputy minister for Consular, Security and Emergency Management.
Joly said she is aware of three Canadians who are still missing, and the government remains in touch with their families.
However, Joly will not confirm whether or not these missing Canadians are hostages.
“I will not confirm whether Canada has any hostages because I don’t want to increase the value and put their lives in danger,” Joly said.
For Canadians in the region, the minister said this is a time of great anxiety and that Canada’s embassies are open. Teams in Egypt and Lebanon are also helping out, according to Joly, and teams working for Global Affairs in Ottawa are being shored up to handle increased calls and texts.
The foreign affairs minister reiterated Canada’s condemnation of the attacks, adding that Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives must be protected.
On Gaza, Joly said the humanitarian situation was dire before the weekend and the situation will only deteriorate further since the weekend.
“As I said, this will get worse before it gets better,” Joly said.
Right now, Joly said her main priority is to help ensure the assisted departure flights run smoothly. Her second priority, she said, is to work toward deescalating the conflict with her international counterparts.
“I’m concerned that this could be a second front to what is happening in the world as we are also dealing with Ukraine, which is our first front,” Joly said, referencing Russia’s invasion of the country last year.
Joly added that Canada will continue to support humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza and Canada will continue to work with this principle in mind.
“We also know that Hamas is not the Palestinian people. It does not represent their aspiration and offers nothing more than more chaos, loss and heartache. The violence must end,” she said.
There are around 500 Canadians registered with Global Affairs Canada in both Gaza and the West Bank. Joly said she did not have a breakdown between the two regions to be able to say how many are specifically in Gaza.
Sunday said that her understanding is that more Canadians are in the West Bank than Gaza.
At this point, there are no plans to help evacuate Canadians from Gaza, but Joly said that if there are missions led by the United Nations, then Canada will take part.
As for Canadians in the West Bank, Joly said that she has been in contact with her counterpart in Jordan and they are looking at options for Canadians who are able to leave the West Bank by entering that country.
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