First Canadian evacuation flight leaves Israel, Blair says

The first Canadian military flight evacuating citizens, permanent residents and their families from Israel has left Tel Aviv, Defence Minister Bill Blair announced Thursday.

The Canadian government has moved to implement an evacuation plan to retrieve Canadians stranded in Israel following devastating attacks against Israel by Hamas over the weekend and amid escalating violence in the region, as Israel strikes the Gaza strip.

Planes will take passengers to Athens, ministers said earlier in the week, and from there on commercial flights will be able to return Canadians to this country. A Canadian military plane was nearing Athens at approximately 11 a.m. ET on Thursday, according to the flight tracking service Flightradar.

Blair said the second military flight is boarding soon.

Canada’s ambassador to Israel, Lisa Stadelbauer, spoke with CBC News at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, saying she anticipates the second flight will leave at approximately 9 p.m. local time.

She said around 116 Canadians were on board the first flight, and expects a similar number to be on the second.

“We’ll continue with the flights over the coming days, depending on demand. Right now we have about one thousand people on our list who are looking for assistance,” Stadelbauer said.

“The thing that is most stressful is the uncertainty. My greatest hope is that a week from now, people will think this was totally unnecessary and they shouldn’t have left,” she said.

Airlines based in countries around the world have cut flights to and from Israel due to the violence in the region.

“The risk is still live and present,” Stadelbauer said.

Three Canadians have been killed in the last week, their families have confirmed, and Global Affairs Canada says it is aware of reports that three are still missing.