Canada ends evacuation flights out of Israel and turns attention to possible Lebanon rescue
CBC
The last planned Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) evacuation flight from Israel left Monday as the federal government wound down one evacuation operation while preparing for another one.
Ottawa is now planning for the prospect of another, much larger evacuation effort in Lebanon, which could be dragged into the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
Canada has so far helped about 1,600 Canadian citizens, permanent residents and eligible family members leave Israel, along with a number of foreign nationals. There have been 19 such "assisted departure" flights out of Tel Aviv over the last 10 days, says Global Affairs Canada (GAC).
In Lebanon, meanwhile, roughly 16,500 citizens have so far registered with the government — suggesting the number of people who may need help fleeing Lebanon could be ten times the number Ottawa pulled out of Israel.
And the registration numbers don't tell the whole story. An estimated 40,000 to 75,000 Canadians are living in Lebanon at any given time, according to government data.
In preparation for a possible evacuation, the CAF has deployed personnel to Lebanon's capital Beirut and to Cyprus, the Mediterranean island that's been used as a rescue point in the past.
"We will be ready," said Defence Minister Bill Blair at a Friday event.
"We're making plans and preparation to be able to react if we have to, so we can do it quickly in order to save Canadian lives if that should occur," Maj.-Gen. Darcy Molstad told a press briefing.
Canada's been here before; the federal government pulled roughly 15,000 people, most of them dual nationals, from Lebanon in 2006. It was a controversial measure that cost the federal treasury nearly $100 million.
Two senior officials who helped orchestrate that evacuation told CBC News Canada is better prepared for a rescue than it was back then, but it's still a daunting task.
"In 2006, we were scrambling," said Ontario Sen. Peter Boehm, a former top diplomat who chaired the government's task force on the evacuation.
"Canada has a very good consular affairs system and we did at that time too, but nothing that was ready for this sort of magnitude."
Boehm said that after that "stressful" evacuation — which took a team of politicians, diplomats and public servants "working flat out 24/7" — Canada developed a new set of best practices.
There's now a standing rapid deployment team (SRDT) that be can be quickly deployed to help with evacuation efforts, he said.