Governments repatriate citizens from Israel

Governments around the world have arranged repatriation flights from Tel Aviv in reaction to the conflict in Israel.

Here is a list of the governments that have organised chartered flights and repatriation schemes to help their citizens leave Israel:

Australia

Australia organised two special flights on Friday (Oct 13) and Sunday to bring back citizens from Israel, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday.

Austria

Austria said its armed forces started to evacuate Austrians from Israel on Wednesday. A transport plane with a capacity of about 60 passengers took off from Horsching airbase in Upper Austria for Cyprus. From there, the Austrians will be picked up from Israel.

Canada

Canada plans to operate evacuation flights for Canadians stranded in Israel, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Tuesday. About 1,000 Canadians in Israel want to leave, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said.

Cyprus

A Cypriot ministerial committee on Tuesday activated a repatriation scheme known as Estia, which offers temporary accommodation and assistance to European Union and third-country nationals fleeing areas of crisis.

Aviation officials said 11 extra inbound and outbound flights to Israel were arranged on Monday. It included the scheduled repatriation of about 150 Cypriot pilgrims from Israel on Monday.

Czech Republic

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky brought 34 Czech citizens back from Israel with him on his government plane after he stopped in the country on his return from a conference in Oman.

The minister, who was the first foreign official to visit Israel since the attacks, the Czech government said, did not rule out sending another repatriation flight to Israel. Lipavsky arrived in Israel on Tuesday and landed in Prague early on Wednesday.

Denmark

The Danish government made available a C-130 Hercules cargo plane, which can carry around 120 passengers, for the evacuation of its citizens, a foreign ministry spokesperson told Reuters.

The ministry said, however, the flight would not happen before Friday.

Finland

Finland will offer to evacuate its citizens and holders of permanent Finnish residency from Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, daily Iltalehti reported on Wednesday, citing Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen.

France

French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna said there would be a special Air France flight on Thursday to help repatriate French nationals.

An Air France spokesperson said a commercial flight will leave at 10am (4pm Singapore time) local time on Thursday from Paris Charles de Gaulle (CGD). The return will be a non-commercial flight with a passenger list handled by the French embassy and will depart at 4.40pm (9.40pm Singapore time) local time from Tel Aviv.

The French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne also said on Wednesday that the government was working with Air France to ensure enough flights for all French citizens who want them.

Germany

5000 German citizens have registered to leave Israel, a German Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday, adding the ministry could not say how many have left so far.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the government evacuated 17 school classes from Israel.

Lufthansa will carry out special flights on Thursday and Friday to bring German citizens in Israel back to Germany, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.

Iceland

The Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday a plane with 126 Icelanders, five Faroese, four Norwegians and a group of 12 people from Germany, as well as the flight crew and representatives from the ministry, had left for Keflavik in Iceland.

A foreign ministry spokesman said the flight was chartered and paid for by the Icelandic state.

Italy

Italy has arranged for seven flights between Tuesday and Wednesday, the Italian foreign ministry said late on Tuesday, as part of efforts to repatriate about 900 Italian citizens from Israel.

Netherlands

Airline KLM on Wednesday said it had withdrawn an offer to the Dutch government for a flight to Israel to take Dutch citizens out of the country, citing safety concerns.

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would send a military plane to Israel on Thursday instead.

Norway

Norwegian Air cancelled a planned evacuation flight from Tel Aviv to Oslo on Thursday because of a lack of insurance cover, the carrier said.

Poland

Poland will send military planes to evacuate its citizens from Israel, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Sunday. Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said Poland was sending two C-130 Hercules planes to evacuate some 200 Poles from Ben Gurion Airport.

Portugal

A plane landed in Lisbon early on Wednesday carrying 152 Portuguese citizens, plus 14 citizens from other European countries, including nine from Spain, Portuguese foreign minister Joao Gomes Cravinho said on Wednesday.

He added that the last four Portuguese citizens who wanted to be repatriated would arrive early on Thursday, along with 20 foreign citizens who have been brought to Cyprus and will be returning to Portugal on a C-130 overnight.

South Korea

A plane carrying 192 South Koreans from Tel Aviv arrived on Wednesday at Incheon Airport, just outside the capital Seoul, after Korean Air sent an empty plane to bring them home.

Spain

Spain has sent two military aircraft to Israel to evacuate some 500 Spaniards, Acting Defence Minister Margarita Robles said on Tuesday.

An Airbus A330 of the Spanish Air Force with more than 200 Spaniards, EU citizens and nationals from third countries residing in Spain, landed early on Wednesday in Torrejon de Ardoz military base on the outskirts of Madrid, the defence ministry said.

A second military plane was heading to Tel Aviv to evacuate the remaining Spaniards in Israel on Wednesday.

Sweden

The Swedish government will offer to evacuate Swedes from Israel and the Palestinian territories, news agency TT reported on Wednesday, citing Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom.

Switzerland

Swiss citizens were being brought back from Israel to Zurich on Tuesday on a flight operated by Swiss airline, the foreign ministry in Bern said on Monday.

Thailand

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, in a post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday, said evacuations would begin immediately, adding that the first group of 15 Thais, some of them injured, would arrive home on Oct 12 on a commercial airliner.

United States

Delta Air Lines said on Monday it was working with the US government as needed to assist with the repatriation of US citizens who want to return home.

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