Last planned Canadian evacuation flight has left Israel: military

The last planned Canadian evacuation flight out of Israel took off on Monday, with no further planes currently expected to leave Tel Aviv.

According to a statement from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), the flight left Tel Aviv with 74 passengers on board. The CAF said in total, more than 1,600 Canadians were evacuated through 19 flights from the country.

“The Canadian Armed Forces are not currently planning any more evacuation flights from Tel Aviv, though aircraft will remain in the region on stand-by to rapidly respond should conditions change,” a spokesperson said.

Evacuation flights began leaving the country just days after Hamas launched its attack against Israel, which had prompted retaliatory strikes on the Gaza Strip.

On Friday, assistant deputy minister for consular, security and emergency management at Global Affairs Canada, Julie Sunday, had urged any Canadians still needing to leave Israel to contact GAC and take a seat on a flight if offered one, as the need for planes out of the country was dwindling.

Another 33 Canadians departed from the West Bank to Jordan, Sunday said, as the situation in Gaza remained fluid.

1:48 Canada prepares to evacuate hundreds of citizens from Gaza amidst humanitarian crisis

The CAF also said Friday that it was getting ready for the possibility it may need to help bring Canadians out of Lebanon, as Israel evacuated a large town near its own northern border with that country.

Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah, which has a massive arsenal of long-range rockets, has been trading fire with Israel along their shared border since the conflict began Oct. 7.

Maj.-Gen. Darcy Molstad, deputy commander of the Canadian Joint Operations Command, told reporters that military officials were in Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus and Greece to prepare for a possible civilian evacuation.

— with files from The Canadian Press.