Leave Lebanon now, Ottawa urges as most decline offer of seats on flights

Less than one-third of Canadians in Lebanon are taking government-assisted commercial flights out of the country when offered, officials said Tuesday, urging everyone to take the opportunity while it remains available.

As of Tuesday, roughly 300 Canadians have left Lebanon on government-charted flights from Beirut to Istanbul, a senior Global Affairs Canada official said on background to discuss the ongoing operation. The government is booking seats on at least three more flights out of Beirut this week, the official confirmed, and more flights may be chartered as needed in the coming days.

“If you are offered a seat, please take it,” Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly told reporters in Ottawa earlier Tuesday.

“The reality is, the seats that we have been securing have not all been taken.”

Global Affairs Canada began booking batches of seats on commercial flights for Canadians to leave Lebanon last week amid an intensifying conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The conflict escalated further on Tuesday after Iran, which backs Hezbollah and other proxies in the Middle East, fired roughly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for the killings of top Hezbollah commanders over the weekend.

Israel has continued to launch attacks on Lebanon after the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. It also launched limited ground raids into southern Lebanese communities early Tuesday. Hundreds of civilians in Lebanon have been killed by the strikes, including at least two Canadians.

The Canadian government is aware of roughly 40,000 Canadian citizens, permanent residents and spouses in Lebanon. Of those, 20,000 have signed up with the government’s Registration of Canadians Abroad system to