The flags of Canada and Israel fly at half mast at a community building in Ottawa, on Oct. 11, 2023.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
The children of Canadian diplomats based in Tel Aviv and their legal guardians have been moved out of Israel amid fears of escalating violence in the region, as the country braces for retaliatory attacks from both Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
In a statement released late Wednesday night, Global Affairs Canada announced it had made the decision earlier that day to move the dependants of diplomats stationed in Israel to an undisclosed third country.
“This temporary relocation follows Global Affairs Canada’s Aug. 3 advice to Canadians to avoid all travel to Israel given current risks,” spokesperson Brittany Fletcher said in the statement.
The government announced late Thursday that all dependant children and their legal guardians had completed their move to a third country.
The Canadian embassies in Israel and Lebanon and the representative office to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank remain fully operational, the government said.
Only children and their guardians from Canada’s mission in Israel were relocated because Ottawa has for four years now not permitted dependants under the age of 18 to be posted to Lebanon and there are no dependant children currently attached to the office in the West Bank.
Fears of a regional war in the Middle East have been ratcheted up significantly in the past week after two high-profile assassinations for which Iran and Hezbollah have vowed retaliation against Israel.
An Israeli strike on July 30 in Beirut killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukr, as well as an Iranian military adviser and five civilians. A day later, Ismail Haniyeh, the political head of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, was killed in Tehran.
The Israeli government has said it would respond to any attack from Iran or Hezbollah, potentially putting Lebanon in its crosshairs.
Ottawa has urged the estimated 40,000 to 75,000 Canadians living in Lebanon to leave immediately while commercial means still exist. The federal government’s statement said staff at the missions in Lebanon and Ramallah remain in place to provide consular services.
On Saturday, Canada warned against all travel to Israel “due to the ongoing regional armed conflict and the unpredictable security situation.” It is also advising against all travel to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The current conflict broke out on Oct. 7 when Hamas launched a deadly surprise attack on Israel that killed an estimated 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage. The Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 39,100 Palestinians have been killed in the war, though it does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The Gaza Strip has been ravaged by the conflict, which has also seen an unprecedented direct assault on Israel by Iran, as well as Israeli attacks on Iran and Lebanon.
Ottawa helped evacuate Canadians from Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack but is not guaranteeing another evacuation mission should the violence escalate in Lebanon. Still, the Canadian Armed Forces announced Wednesday that they are positioning assets in the region in the event Ottawa approves such an operation.
With a report from The Canadian Press