Buildings are damaged after being hit by an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday evening in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on July 31.Hussein Malla/The Associated Press
The Canadian government won’t commit to rescuing Canadians in Lebanon if war breaks out but evacuation planning is nevertheless under way.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has for months urged Canadian citizens to leave Lebanon amid escalating violence between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Canada designates Hezbollah as a terrorist group.
An Israeli strike Tuesday on Beirut’s Dahiyeh suburb killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, an Iranian military adviser and five civilians. Coupled with the killing in Tehran hours later of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Palestinian armed group Hamas, the strike has risked sending the entire region into a violent tailspin. The Canadian government considers Hamas a terrorist group.
But Ms. Joly’s office Thursday wouldn’t guarantee that Canada would launch efforts to rescue citizens who chose to remain in Lebanon if the conflict expands to the point where commercial flights end.
Former chief of the defence staff General Wayne Eyre said in June, however, that contingency evacuation plans have been drafted to extract Canadians from Lebanon if needed. He told CBC News at the time that any efforts would rely on co-ordination with allies.
Canada and its allies have in the years since the 2006 evacuation from Lebanon discussed future extraction plans, likely by sea, that would rely on Cyprus as as hub for such efforts.
National Defence Department spokesman Alexandre Tétreault said Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) are in Cyprus right now.
“In support of Global Affairs Canada, CAF personnel are currently assisting the Canadian embassy in Lebanon with contingency planning,” Mr. Tétreault said in a statement.
“In addition, as part of prudent planning and preparedness, the CAF has established an Operational Liaison and Reconnaissance Team of approximately 30 people in Cyprus and other key locations as needed to partner closely with GAC and local authorities. The CAF is well connected in the region and is working closely with our allies and partners to maintain awareness of upcoming threats that may result in requests to support Canadians and Canadian interests.”
Nearly 22,000 Canadians have registered their presence in Lebanon with the Department of Global Affairs, according to spokeswoman Charlotte MacLeod.
That doesn’t capture the full Canadian population as many do not register, the government said. A Global Affairs webpage on Canada-Lebanon relations estimates 40,000 to 75,000 Canadian citizens live there.
Isabella Orozco-Madison, press secretary for Ms. Joly, could not say how many Canadians had left Lebanon in recent weeks, saying the department does not track that data.
She would not say whether Canada would commit to extracting Canadians from Lebanon in the event of a conflict.
Canada however has stepped in to evacuate its citizens from Israel, Sudan and Afghanistan in recent years. Canadian government policy is to transport citizens to a nearby hub from which they are financially responsible for making their way back to Canada.
Ms. MacLeod of Global Affairs urged Canadians to leave Lebanon now. “Canadians in Lebanon should leave now by commercial means if they can do so safely,” she said in a statement. “Canada is not currently offering assisted departures or evacuations for Canadians in Lebanon and there is never a guarantee the Canadian government will evacuate Canadians in a crisis situation.”
National Defence’s Mr. Tétreault warned the situation in Lebanon is volatile and unpredictable because of events in Israel and the West Bank, while violence between Hezbollah and Israel escalates. “There are violent clashes along the border with Israel, including daily rocket and missile fire as well as air strikes,” he said in a statement.
While Canada isn’t guaranteeing it will rescue citizens from Lebanon, a post on Global Affairs’ Lebanon travel advisory webpage lays out the rules that would be followed if an extraction operation took place.
“In the event of an evacuation, government of Canada assisted departures will only be available to Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Lebanon, as well as their accompanying spouse and dependent children,” the department says. “All travellers will require valid travel documents for their assisted departure.”
With a report from Reuters