Less than one-third of Canadians in Lebanon are taking government-assisted commercial flights out of the country when offered, officials said Tuesday, urging everyone to take the opportunity while it remains available.
As of Tuesday, roughly 300 Canadians have left Lebanon on government-charted flights from Beirut to Istanbul, a senior Global Affairs Canada official said on background to discuss the ongoing operation. The government is booking seats on at least three more flights out of Beirut this week, the official confirmed, and more flights may be chartered as needed in the coming days.
“If you are offered a seat, please take it,” Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly told reporters in Ottawa earlier Tuesday.
“The reality is, the seats that we have been securing have not all been taken.”
Global Affairs Canada began booking batches of seats on commercial flights for Canadians to leave Lebanon last week amid an intensifying conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The conflict escalated further on Tuesday after Iran, which backs Hezbollah and other proxies in the Middle East, fired roughly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for the killings of top Hezbollah commanders over the weekend.
Israel has continued to launch attacks on Lebanon after the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. It also launched limited ground raids into southern Lebanese communities early Tuesday. Hundreds of civilians in Lebanon have been killed by the strikes, including at least two Canadians.
The Canadian government is aware of roughly 40,000 Canadian citizens, permanent residents and spouses in Lebanon. Of those, 20,000 have signed up with the government’s Registration of Canadians Abroad system to get updates and information.
The Global Affairs Canada official said the agency has provided an intake form to all of those registrants, and about 4,000 filled it out. Those 4,000 are being vetted for admissibility into Canada and will all be offered government-reserved seats on commercial flights.
Of the 1,700 people so far who have been vetted and offered a seat, less than one-third have indicated they will take one, the official said.
Those who decline initial offers will continue to be offered seats on future flights, the official added.
Ferry services are also available from Beirut to Istanbul, but the official said the government is not yet pre-booking spots on those boats, only telling registered Canadians that it remains an option.
Canadians looking to leave can also book seats on flights themselves, but the government began reserving spots as demand made self-booking more difficult.
A commercial flight from Beirut to Istanbul on Middle Eastern airlines cost US$330 as of Tuesday, and the Canadian government says it is up to Canadians to cover both that cost and final flights from Turkey to Canada. Global Affairs Canada’s consular services can provide loans to those unable to cover those costs immediately.
The official said the government understands both the financial concerns and the difficulty Canadians may have leaving their homes and loved ones behind, but stressed the importance of leaving immediately while they still can.
“I know it’s a tough choice,” Joly said earlier Tuesday. “I know that the situation is extremely difficult, but my priority is your security.”
Blair said there are Canadian facilities and aircraft in both Turkey and Cyprus but that the current focus is on using commercial means to get Canadian citizens out of Lebanon.
“We’ve sent a number of our people into the region. We have about 200 people in the area right now but we’re increasing that number as may be required,” he said.
Sources told Global News military assets were being pre-positioned in the region in order to move quickly if an evacuation is ordered.
The Global Affairs Canada official said there are contingency plans in place in case the situation deteriorates further and airports are closed before its chartered flights are completed this week, but would not provide details on those plans.
Canadian MPs were set to hold an emergency debate in the House of Commons Tuesday evening on the crisis in Lebanon after Israel’s ground incursion intensified fears of a full-scale invasion.