The first ever evacuation flight for Canadians from Israel, conducted by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), has successfully landed in Athens, as announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday. Trudeau revealed that a second evacuation flight was also scheduled to depart later in the day. He made this announcement during a press conference held in the Northwest Territories, where he also disclosed federal funds for urgent humanitarian aid in the region.
In addition, Trudeau condemned the coordinated and deadly actions carried out by Hamas, while reiterating Canada’s support for Israel’s right to self-defense according to international law. Trudeau stated, “Hamas is a terrorist organization that has brutally murdered innocent civilians, invaded Israel, and caused unimaginable devastation.” He also emphasized the government’s commitment to supporting both Palestinian and Israeli civilians, and ensuring their safety during this tragic conflict.
Efforts to evacuate Canadians from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport began on Thursday, with two departure flights scheduled. Canada follows in the footsteps of other countries in evacuating its citizens following a devastating Hamas attack on Saturday that triggered days of violence.
The departure schedule at Ben Gurion airport lists two Canadian Air Force flights at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. local time. Defence Minister Bill Blair posted on social media that approximately 130 individuals were on board the first flight. Two more flights are scheduled for departure on Friday at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly had announced on Wednesday morning that CAF flights would start departing from Tel Aviv “in the coming days.” These flights, conducted by CC-150 aircraft, are intended to evacuate Canadians, permanent residents, and their families. The CAF flights will operate between Tel Aviv and Athens, and then Ottawa will coordinate with Air Canada to repatriate the evacuees back to Canada. Passengers on the Air Canada flight will need to cover their own expenses.
When asked about the timing of the announcement regarding the assisted evacuation flights, Minister Joly explained that such a course of action is typically not taken when commercial flights are still operational. However, due to the significant number of flight cancellations and delays, with few rescheduling answers, the Canadian government has decided to initiate assisted departures.
A recent analysis by Global News revealed that approximately 53 percent of scheduled flights are departing from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. Minister Joly emphasized that Canada is the first out of the Five Eyes countries to initiate assisted departures from Israel. Australia made a similar announcement after Minister Joly’s original post on social media regarding Canada’s evacuation flights on Tuesday evening. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom and France are also facilitating flights to evacuate their citizens from Israel.
It is worth noting that the content above has retained its original HTML tags.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
