Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says that Qantas will commence the repatriation of stranded Australians in war-torn Israel from Friday.
Two chartered Qantas planes, probably B787s capable of carrying around 250 people each, will carry Aussies out of Israel to London tomorrow.
Australians stuck in the Middle Eastern nation will likely be offered a third flight next week, Foreign Minister Penny Wong added.
Evacuees may receive further onward support from London.
According to AAP, around 10,000 Australian residents and even more tourists are stranded in Israel, where over 1,200 Israelis and 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war.
Thousands more people on both sides of the conflict have been injured, while Hamas has reportedly taken scores of people hostage.
“There are so many Australians in the area that it’s not completely clear … how many are there, let alone how many are unaccounted for,” the PM said on Wednesday.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil expects high demand for the repatriation flights.
“It’s possible there will be an initial rush of people out of Israel but then later others will want to leave,” she told the ABC on Thursday.
According to The Guardian, the government had also asked Virgin Australia for assistance in the evacuation.
FJ flies Aussies to Fiji
Meanwhile, a Fiji Airways plane has carried 13 Australians out of Israel as well as 16 New Zealanders, on a specially chartered flight.
Reuters reports the flight departed Tel Aviv with almost 200 Fijian religious pilgrims on board, along with citizens of Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, Philippines and Samoa.
Other airlines have continued repatriation flights out of the country, after major carriers suspended or cancelled flights to and from Israel’s major airport, Ben Gurion International, just outside of Tel Aviv.
But the situation is precarious, with British Airways cancelling flights on account of rockets reportedly flying over the city.
Virgin Atlantic, Air France, Lufthansa, Emirates, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines are among the carriers to have cancelled or delayed flights from Israel.
“It’s simply the case of what availability could be arranged faster,” Minister Wong said, with regards to the option of using defence force planes instead of commercial aircraft in the evacuation.
“Obviously, there are occasions where we looked at the RAAF.”
Senator Wong said Australia will also support the establishment of a US-led safe corridor into Egypt.
Governments around the world updated advice for travel to Israel early in the week after the country declared war following unprecedented incursions out of Gaza by Hamas.
