Canada to begin evacuation of citizens from Tel Avis Thursday morning after Canada’s military dispatches two passenger jets
Canada’s military dispatched two large passenger jets to begin evacuations of Canadians from Israel via Athens as early as Thursday evening as a report emerged of private evacuation flights organized by those in Israel frustrated with the delayed Canadian government response.
The Trudeau government denied it was slow to respond to the latest crisis, saying it is a “rare” and “exceptional circumstance” to send military flights in while commercial flights and airports are still operating, and Israeli airspace is still open.
However, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and her officials said it became nearly impossible for Canadians to rebook flights that had been cancelled out of Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport.
Joly acknowledged, however, that increasingly, global security threats are forcing the government to rethink when such flights may be necessary.
Canada will “have to be ready to do more because the world is getting (to be) much more of a difficult place to live in. We are living in an international security crisis. And with this Middle East conflict that has just started, we know that we have to be ready,” she said.
In the case of Israel, the Canadian Forces has sent two CC-150 Airbus aircraft that can carry a passenger load of about 150. Military flights from Tel Aviv to Athens will begin by the end of the week, and will shuttle departing Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate families to Athens. Ottawa has co-ordinated with Air Canada to fly Canadians onward from Athens to Canada, at the passengers’ cost.
Travellers will need to documents to show Canadian citizenship, permanent resident status, or carry an emergency travel authorization or an emergency travel visa if they are nationals of a country for which Canada requires visas.
Immigration officials say emergency travel authorizations for family members of Canadians may be obtained online, or in case of snags, through the Canadian embassy in Tel Aviv. Dual citizens are recognized as Canadians, and Israeli citizens who may be family of Canadians do not require visas, just the emergency authorization.
The Canadian government is trying to organize “additional options” for exiting Israel for those who cannot reach the Tel Aviv airport.
The Globe and Mail reported late Wednesday a group of 27 Canadians left Haifa, Israel on a privately organized Dash 8 charter, with two more private flights expected in the coming days.
For people stranded in Gaza, however, the exit options are virtually nil, as Israel has sealed off the territory.
For those in the occupied West Bank, Joly and her officials said that despite occasional border closures, it is still possible to exit via Jordan and get on commercial flights to return to Canada.
Joly repeated Canada’s “unequivocal” condemnation of the Hamas attacks on Israel at a news conference Wednesday, and called for de-escalation of the conflict.
Officials say there are about 4,249 Canadians registered in Israel as of Wednesday morning, and 476 Canadians are registered in the Palestinian Territories, which includes Gaza and the West Bank.
Of those, about 1,000 have reached out to Global Affairs to request assistance to leave, with about 70 of those located in Gaza. Those numbers, officials said, are constantly shifting.
Canadians in Israel or Gaza and the West Bank are urged to register with Global Affairs Canada (613-996-8885 or sos@international.gc.ca).
Joly called the situation in Gaza dire, and said it will “only get worse before it gets better.
“We urge all parties to respect international humanitarian law.” Asked if Canada has opposed Israel’s threat of a “total siege” of Gaza, Joly said only that all parties should “be able to provide humanitarian access to civilians.”
Joly said Canada is working with the United Nations on any possible evacuation from Gaza.
However, Canadian and American officials said Wednesday there are no real talks to advance that at the moment.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said before flying to Israel Wednesday that the U.S. is talking to Israel and Egypt about securing a safe passage for civilians out of Gaza, calling it “understandably complicated.”
“I know Israel wants to make sure to the best of its ability that civilians are not harmed. But Israel has to take steps to defend itself,” Blinken told reporters. “It has to make sure that any ongoing threat is dealt with — and I believe it has to make sure that, going forward, what happened doesn’t happen again.”
Gen. Wayne Eyre, Canada’s chief of the defence staff, said the Canadian Armed Forces began developing options as soon as the conflict broke out.
How long Canada operates its military shuttles will depend on demand, military officials said.
Eyre, who has previously said that the Canadian Forces’ capacity to respond to disasters is limited, said Wednesday that there will be an “opportunity cost” to switching military resources to Israel now, but that “no mission” is more important than protecting Canadians.
This article was reported by The Star
