Anthony Albanese finally sends rescue jets to Israel to save stranded Aussies after terrified tourists slammed his government for doing nothing

The Australian government has announced it is sending rescue flights to Israel to fly citizens home.

It comes after tourists pleaded with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for help as commercial airlines canceled flights in and out of the besieged country.

The terrorist organization Hamas launched a large-scale attack on Saturday morning that has left hundreds of Israelis dead and sparked mass panic.

Mr Albanese announced in Melbourne on Wednesday that the government would “begin the assisted departure of Australians who want to leave Israel”, after his government came under fire for not moving faster to help stranded citizens.

“Mevery Australian is experiencing difficulties with commercial flight delays and cancellations.’

The government will offer support to Australians who do not already have a seat on a commercial jet booked and these Qantas flights will depart from Friday.

Australians in Israel interested in these flights should register with the government’s 24-hour consular emergency centre, Mr Albanese said.

The Prime Minister faced criticism overnight for flying to Uluru for the final push for the Voice referendum in Parliament, while Israel – and Australians overseas – were in crisis.

But he revealed in his speech that he has assessed all options with his ministry to ensure Australians can return home safely.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was among those calling for the government to move quickly to give agencies tit the direction they need to carry out their planning”.

Earlier, Daily Mail Australia revealed that Australians on the trip of a lifetime to Israel were demanding to know why the Australian government had not already acted to help them escape.

Paul and Audrey West, from Newcastle, had been driving a group of 33 holidaymakers around Israel for about two weeks when Hamas began firing rockets from the Gaza Strip.

They were on the beach in Tel Aviv when the bomb sirens went off, so they ran to the nearest cafe for shelter and spent the next four days in hiding as they frantically tried to arrange new flights home.

The couple’s daughter, Brittany West, said the group had been in Gaza about 24 hours before the attacks.

She said their original flights were canceled and it was difficult to get a seat on the new ones due to limited options after the airlines stopped operating through Israel.

“Everything that came out was quickly booked,” she said

Canada, Germany, Romania, Greece, Hungary, India, Thailand and Brazil have started the repatriation of their citizens.

Twenty members of the group managed to book flights for Tuesday, but about 13 are still waiting.

Now, staff at the hotel where they sought refuge are urging them to leave, telling them to ‘do everything you can to get out because it’s going to escalate’.

Brittany said there is a sense of urgency and fear for all those left behind.

“They’re doing everything they can to get on a flight, but they keep getting canceled,” she said.

“I spoke to one of the couples last night and they honestly feel abandoned by the government – we don’t understand why other governments are able to evacuate their residents.

“There really should be a rescue mission, but if we wait too long it could be a recovery mission.”

Brittany said her parents had been running tours with a company in Israel since 2011, but this year was their first trip since the pandemic.

She urged the government to release a flight for Australians, like other nations, and has called on Austrians to put pressure on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

DFAT did not respond to the group’s dilemma or why the Albanian government was not doing more.

Instead, a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that the government is “closely monitoring the situation and remains in contact with local authorities”.

“There are currently commercial flights available and Australians in Israel who wish to leave should pursue these options,” he said.

“Our thoughts are with those killed and injured in these attacks and others affected.”

Hours later, the Albanian government announced it was in talks with Qantas and Virgin to ask if they could help with repatriation flights.

“We are working on a number of contingency arrangements that I will not detail publicly for obvious reasons,” Mr Albanese told the ABC.

Transport Minister Catherine King wrote on social media: “The Australian Government is evaluating all options to support Australians wishing to leave Israel and Gaza.”

Of the 10,000 Australians still in Israel, only 122 have arranged their transport out of the war-torn country.

Mr Albanese has also been criticized for his ‘pussy’ reaction to anti-Semitic protests in Sydney on Monday.

John Howard, who led Australia after the September 11 attacks, said the prime minister’s denunciation did not go far enough.

“Mr Albanese needs to make some clear statements, as does the Foreign Minister,” he told The Australian.

“Instead there is pussy and lukewarm punishment. Then you have the Attorney General of New South Wales (Michael Daley) saying that everyone should keep quiet and go home.

“How can you stay calm when the demonstrators are mentioning the memory of the Holocaust? People remain calm in this?’

The civilian death toll from Hamas attacks on Israel rose to more than 1,000, bringing the total number of casualties to 3,100 since the war broke out on Saturday.

Australian-born grandmother Galit Carbone, 66, was among those killed in Kibbutz Be’eri, about 5km from the Gaza Strip. Her body was found a few meters away from her home.