Australia abruptly CANCELS emergency evacuation flights from Israel for Australian citizens
- Evacuation flights out of the war zone have been cancelled
- Australians remain stranded in Israel
- READ MORE: Ground war begins in Gaza
Australia has canceled planned repatriation flights from Israel, citing the ‘very challenging and rapidly changing’ situation while the federal government investigates alternative options.
“The Australian Government is working to ensure that Australians who want to leave can do so as quickly as possible,” the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on Saturday night.
“We will communicate to registered Australians about the next available flights.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said she understood people’s concern about the flight cancellations.
Penny Wong has said Australia will seek the next available flights for Australians stranded in Israel as the situation became too complex
Australia canceled planned repatriation flights from Israel, citing the ‘very challenging and rapidly changing’ situation.
“Unfortunately, these fights were not able to continue as we had originally hoped,” she told Sky News.
“The situation on the ground is obviously very volatile and changing rapidly.”
Earlier, a Qantas flight to evacuate people from the conflict in Israel and the Gaza Strip landed in London, with 238 Australians on board.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed the repatriation, confirming that the first group of Australians flown from the conflict zone had landed safely at Heathrow Airport.
“I report that the Qantas flight has landed in London,” he told reporters in Sydney.
“It was a full flight with about 220 passengers.”
The foreign minister said about 825 Australians had left Israel and the occupied territories, with the department of foreign affairs working to ensure the safety of about 20 Australians seeking to leave Gaza.
“We continue to work on travel arrangements for those Australians,” she said.
“We are moving quickly to provide more options for Australians who want to leave Israel or the occupied territories.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed the repatriation, confirming that the first group of Australians flown from the conflict zone had landed safely at Heathrow Airport.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil told ABC News on Saturday that it was ‘excellent’ that the passengers had arrived safely in London.
“We have another flight, a Qantas flight, going to London and two more Australian government charter flights going to Dubai over the next few days,” she said.
“Our urgent priority is to protect Australians caught in this conflict, whether they are caught in Israel or Gaza.”
Ms O’Neil said Australians could register interest from family members in the region who wanted to return home.
“If you want to get out, now is the time,” she said.
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