Australia cancels evacuation flight out of Israel
Qantas says a flight scheduled to leave Tel Aviv on Sunday transporting Australians fleeing the war was cancelled because it is too unsafe to fly, after Israel warned of an imminent ground invasion of Gaza.
Defence Minister Richard Marles told ABC TV the Australian government was exploring military options to repatriate citizens who want to leave Israel, as first revealed by The Australian Financial Review.
A Qantas repatriation flight leaves Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv bound for London. Nine News
“There are a lot of moving parts. We are looking at how we can resolve issues around the repatriation flights which we had in train. We are also looking at ways we can find other alternatives for Australians who want to leave Israel,” Mr Marles said.
Qantas flew the first of two scheduled flights from Tel Aviv to London on Saturday with 238 Australians aboard. They will fly home from London to Sydney on Tuesday.
But the airline said safety assessments for the flight out of Tel Aviv scheduled on Sunday, conducted in consultation with government agencies, had led to the decision to cancel.
“Based on latest assessments, the difficult decision has been made not to operate the second flight to Tel Aviv on Sunday due to continued deterioration of conditions on the ground in Israel for safety reasons,” Qantas said in a statement.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirms the evacuation of Australian nationals away from conflict-ridden Israel. DFAT
A third flight scheduled to leave Israel on Friday has also been cancelled. It is understood there had been discussions between the airlines and the Australian government over insuring the flights, given the escalating tensions.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the Australian government was further working to evacuate Australians trapped in Gaza via neighbouring Jordan, with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade assisting more than 1500 registered Australians in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.
“The Australian government is working to arrange bus transport from Ramalla to Jordan for Australians requiring assistance to leave,” Senator Wong said in a post to X (formerly Twitter).
Already 850 Australians have left Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
On Saturday, the minister pledged $10 million in aid – $3 million via the Red Cross and $7 million through the UN – to the people of Gaza, backing calls from US President Joe Biden for Israel to abide by the rules of war.
Qantas said it would keep working with its Middle Eastern partner airline, Emirates, to find ways to repatriate Australians through other ports. Emirates is one of an increasingly small number of non-Israeli commercial carriers still flying out of Tel Aviv.
Australian officials at Ben Gurion Airport ahead of a repatriation flight to London. Nine News
Virgin Australia and its, partner Qatar Airways, have also offered assistance and are understood to be in talks with DFAT, given Qatar is unable to enter Israel. Virgin does not have long-haul planes such as the Boeing Dreamliner flown by Qantas, and relies on its partners.
Air Force flights from Canada, Slovakia, Greece and Denmark are still scheduled to depart Ben Gurion airport, while a small number of charter flights are operating to London.
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