2023-10-11 12:35:02
By PE
Published 29 minutes ago, Updated 13 minutes ago
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The Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that an Air France plane would leave Tel Aviv on Thursday. Almost all companies have stopped their connections with Israel since Saturday.
Eight dead and 20 missing, some of whom “were most likely removed» according to the Quai d’Orsay. This is the provisional toll of victims of French nationality, on the fifth day of the Hamas attack against Israel. Among the hostages, little Eitan, 12 years old, kidnapped on a motorbike with his father. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the establishment of a “special flight» intended for the repatriation of French or French Israelis «the most vulnerable» still present on site.
This initiative was announced Tuesday by Minister Catherine Colonna, who mentioned “the establishment of a special flight by Air France this Thursday as part of an operation coordinated by the crisis center» from the Quai d’Orsay. This “special flight” is destined “to compatriots who wish it, and have not been able to find available seats on commercial flights still open in Tel Aviv (…) pending the resumption of regular Air France flights», Specifies the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It will depart from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv at 4:40 p.m. for an arrival at 8:35 p.m. at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.
Also read: Israel imposes total siege on Gaza before ground assault
Commercial flights suspended since Saturday
The ministry emphasizes that this flight is intended for “vulnerable people“, in particular the “unaccompanied minors and pregnant women“. or any persondisabled or in a medical situation presenting a particular emergency“. French people who would like to embark must report before 3 p.m. (Tel Aviv time) this Wednesday, October 11, to the email address indicated on the ministry’s website.
Like almost all companies linked to Israel, Air France – which until then operated two round trips per day between Charles-de-Gaulle and Tel-Aviv and three flights per week between Lyon and the Israeli capital – and its cheap subsidiary Transavia suspended their commercial flight service from Saturday. However, some flights continued, with the Israeli company El Al maintaining its activity. A few foreigners, including French people, were undoubtedly able to embark there to leave Israel. But a large number of them are still there. In 2022, the Quai d’Orsay recorded 57,000 French nationals in Israel.
Read alsoMost international companies suspend their flights to Israel
Thousands of foreigners are stranded in Israel and the Palestinian territories and France is not the only one to organize repatriation operations. Argentina has already started these operations with the sending of a military plane. Nigeria also repatriated 310 of its nationals who were in Jordan after leaving Israel by road. Switzerland and Spain also chartered a special flight on Tuesday from Tel Aviv. Brazil, South Korea and Canada plan to do the same in the coming days.
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