The UK government is facilitating flight arrangements to rescue British citizens stranded in Israel, according to a recent announcement by the Foreign Office.
A flight was slated to depart Tel Aviv last Thursday and additional flights are being arranged for the forthcoming days, conditional on the prevailing security state of affairs. British citizens will be contacted if they are selected for the evacuation. Under no circumstances should they make unsolicited trips to the airport without being summoned.
The Foreign Office dispatched a team of diplomatic representatives to Israel to assist those flying back to the UK. The UK establishment had earlier declared it would not organise evacuation flights since commercial flights were still in operation. However, the stance had to be altered as numerous airlines such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, EasyJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Air France, Lufthansa and Emirates suspended their services due to escalating tensions.
Significant developments in the UK include a possible reconsideration of funding for Palestinian refugees which could result in the government advancing “essential humanitarian supplies” near the conflicted region, according to International Aid Minister Andrew Mitchell. Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, has presided over an Israel policing roundtable in Downing Street and pledged £3m to fortify Jewish community buildings. King Charles has also engaged in talks with Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis in Buckingham Palace following the King’s condemnation of heinous acts of terrorism in Israel.
Government-executed flights, while being commercial in nature, are being chartered by the Foreign Office. Passengers will be charged £300. All occupants of the first flight have been secured. British regular residents and dual citizens, along with dependents accompanying them, will be offered seats on the flight.
Several countries, such as Canada, France, Italy and Poland, have successfully carried out flights to bring back their citizens from Israel. Nevertheless, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways had to suspend their last remaining daily service after a BA flight was forced to retrace its route due to security worries.
Downing Street plans to deploy a surveillance aircraft and a pair of Royal Navy ships to the eastern Mediterranean “to support Israel”. This military support scheme would also include deploying a Royal Navy task group for humanitarian efforts next week.
Meanwhile, the Israeli government signals readiness to enact a ground military operation inside Gaza following lethal attacks orchestrated by Hamas over the weekend which has resulted in 1,300 fatalities. Resistance in Gaza has also inflicted more than 1,300 casualties since Israel began counter air strikes, causing 338,000 displacements. In a conversation with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appealed for the country to maintain its Gaza crossing open for “humanitarian and consular reasons”.
