As Israel and Hezbollah inch toward war, Canada braces for a repeat of the 2006 evacuation

More details. In the end, of course, despite the warnings, many stay and the government is compelled to arrange evacuations. More than likely, a significant number of those who were evacuated in 2006 and subsequently returned would be part of any evacuation:

Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly had a stark warning Tuesday for Canadian citizens in Lebanon.

“If the armed conflict intensifies, it could impact your ability to leave the country and our ability to provide you with consular services,” she said. “Canada is not currently offering assisted departures or evacuations for Canadians in Lebanon, and these are not guaranteed.

“My message to Canadians has been clear since the beginning of the crisis in the Middle East: it is not the time to travel to Lebanon. And for Canadians currently in Lebanon, it is time to leave, while commercial flights remain available.”

Canadian officials are acutely aware of the fact that a large-scale Israeli air attack on Lebanon could force Canada to evacuate thousands of citizens under fire, as it did during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

Canada spent $94 million and leased seven ships to evacuate Canadians from Lebanon to Cyprus and Turkey in 2006.

Three naval ships participated in the operation. Even the prime minister’s jet was roped into service.

The evacuation led to complaints in Canada about “citizens of convenience” after reports emerged that many evacuees returned to live in Lebanon as soon as it was safe to do so.

Canada ultimately evacuated about 15,000 people. Today, a similar number of Canadian citizens have registered with the embassy in Lebanon. Joly has said that is likely just a “fraction” of the true number of Canadians in the Middle Eastern country.

Canada doesn’t have many resources in the area right now. The frigate HMCS Charlottetown entered the Mediterranean Tuesday morning, steaming through the Strait of Gibraltar on its way to join NATO’s Maritime Group 2.

The utility of Cyprus as a base of operations has also been cast into some doubt after Hezbollah warned the island’s government that it could be a target if it assists Israel in an attack on Lebanon.

Cyprus is within range of the Zelzal-2 ballistic missiles Hezbollah acquired from Iran, and the M-600 missiles it got from Syria….

Source: As Israel and Hezbollah inch toward war, Canada braces for a repeat of the 2006 evacuation

Further article on Canadian military preparations:

The country’s top military commander says contingency evacuation plans have been drawn up to extract roughly 20,000 Canadians from Lebanon should full-scale fighting erupt between Israel and Hezbollah, but those plans are heavily dependent on allied support.

Gen. Wayne Eyre, the chief of the defence staff, made the remarks in a wide-ranging exit interview with CBC News on Wednesday prior to his retirement next month.

“We can’t do it alone,” Eyre said. “It will very much be a coalition effort, and we are tightly tied in — very tight — with our allies.”

He noted that in terms of the Canadian government response, Global Affairs Canada is in charge, but allied military leaders who will have to carry out the evacuation met Tuesday to discuss what’s available and how it can be done safely.

On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly warned Canadians to leave Lebanon as quickly as possible.

Following a recent conversation between Joly and her Israeli counterpart Israel Katz, Israeli media reported that Canada was considering evacuating up to 45,000 people.

Evacuation plans echo 2006 efforts

The scale of getting noncombatants out of Lebanon is something that preoccupies military planners, Eyre said, noting “the figure that we are looking at is somewhere just over 20,000, and based on historical [data], what we did in 2006.”

Eighteen years ago, over a two week period in July, almost 15,000 people — most of them Canadians — were evacuated from Lebanon after war broke out between Israel and Hezbollah.

Despite the preparation, Eyre acknowledged that he’s “very concerned” about the prospect of war between Israel and the Lebanon-based militant group this summer.

Shortly after Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7 last year, Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel. Last week, the Israeli army acknowledged it had approved plans for an offensive against Lebanon and that it was only waiting for political approval to begin the operation.

Eyre said a Canadian military team is currently in Lebanon and co-ordinating with the embassy in Beirut in case the worst happens. …

Source: Canadian military planning for evacuation of 20,000 from Lebanon, says top commander