Key PointsAn estimated 10,000 Australian residents and tourists are believed to be in Israel.Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said there would likely be a large demand for the flights.The free-of-charge effort will start on Friday when two flights will depart Ben Gurion Airport for London.
Australian citizens seeking to return from Israel are expected to be offered a further flight next week while two Qantas flights will start evacuating Australians on Friday.
An estimated 10,000 Australian residents and tourists were believed to be in Israel when the militant group Hamas launched the surprise dawn attack on Saturday night.
Australian authorities are still trying to ascertain their status and bring home those who want to leave.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her department was working through the details of further action.
Will there be more repatriation flights for Australians in Israel?
“We are seeking to arrange a further flight likely to be early next week,” she told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.
Israel’s , its military said, from Hamas gunmen’s hours-long rampage after breaching the fence around Gaza on Saturday.
Retaliatory strikes on the blockaded enclave have killed 1,100 Palestinians and wounded more than 5,000, officials say.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said there would likely be a large demand for the 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 ABC TV on Thursday.
What about commercial flights available from Tel Aviv?
Major airlines have since suspended or cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv.
Asked if defence force planes were a better option than commercial aircraft after British Airways stopped flights to Tel Aviv as rockets flew over the city, O’Neil said the foreign minister was working through the details.
Wong said the government had looked at all options, including the Air Force.
“It’s simply the case of what availability could be arranged faster,” she said. “Obviously, there are occasions where we looked at the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force).”
The first two free-of-charge flights will depart Ben Gurion Airport for London on Friday.
Options are being worked on for Australians who need onward support from London. The planes are likely to be Boeing 787s, which carry about 250 people.
Prime Minister on Wednesday.
“My government will begin the assisted departure of Australians who want to leave Israel,” he told reporters in Melbourne.
“We are assessing all options to get Australians home as soon as possible who wish to travel back here.”
Australians who want to make use of those assisted departure flights must register with the
The number of Australians in the area presents an issue for repatriation efforts. “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,” Albanese said.
It comes after Wong confirmed the death of Australian grandmother Galit Carbone on Wednesday morning.
Carbone, 66, was killed at the Be’eri kibbutz, about nine kilometres from the Gaza Strip. Wong conveyed her deepest condolences to Carbone’s family and their loved ones.
“The Australian Government has received confirmation of the tragic death of Galit Carbone, an Australian citizen murdered in the attacks on Israel by terrorist group Hamas,” Wong said in a statement.
“The loss of life from these attacks has been devastating and unacceptable.”
Wong again condemned the indiscriminate killing of civilians and urged Hamas to release hostages, saying the practice had “no place in today’s world”.
She said Australia supported the establishment of a safe corridor into Egypt. “We’ll support the US efforts in that regard,” she said.
The significant escalation is the latest in a long-standing conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Hamas is a Palestinian military and political group, gaining power in the Gaza Strip since winning legislative elections there in 2006.
Its stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state, while refusing to recognise Israel’s right to exist.
Anthony Albanese visits Melbourne synagogue
In a speech at a Melbourne synagogue, Albanese paid tribute to the lives lost in the violence and assured the Jewish community that anti-Semitism and hateful prejudice had no place in Australia.
“We cannot lighten the weight that is upon you, but we hold you in our hearts,” the prime minister said on Wednesday.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has called for Albanese to condemn pro-Palestine protests. He said it was “unbelievable” if it was true the federal government’s national security committee had not yet met to discuss the Middle East.
“These are simple questions that need pretty significant contemplation about the best way to keep Australians safe,” he told reporters in Brisbane.
The prime minister, defence minister and home affairs minister said they would not comment on the timing of national security cabinet meetings.
But O’Neil said she and the prime minister were briefed daily by security officials.
Hamas, in its entirety, is designated as a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, Canada, the UK and the US. Some countries list only its military wing as a terrorist group.
The UN though did not condemn Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist organisation, due to insufficient support from member states to do so during a 2018 vote.
