Canada will airlift people from Tel Aviv this week, Joly says

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says the federal government will begin to airlift Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their families from Tel Aviv by the end of the week.

Speaking in Ottawa today, Joly would not confirm whether any Canadians are being held hostage in Gaza, but a senior official from Global Affairs Canada says two Canadians have died and a third is presumed dead.

She says Canadian Armed Forces flights to Athens will be arranged in the coming days and the government will help arrange flights to Canada.

Chief of the defence staff Gen. Wayne Eyre says the first Polaris plane will land in Athens later this morning and the Air Force will run a shuttle service.

As of Tuesday, Joly says there were 4,249 Canadians registered in Israel and another 476 in the West Bank and Gaza.

She says Canada will work with the United Nations if there is an evacuation from Gaza but so far there are no such plans.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2023.

The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said three Canadians have died in the violence in the region.