Third repatriation flight flagged for Aussies in Israel
Australian citizens seeking to return from Israel are expected to be offered a further flight next week.
Two Qantas flights will begin evacuating Australians on Friday.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her department was working through the details of further action.
“I can indicate to Australians with friends and family in this role we are seeking to arrange a further flight likely to be early next week,” she told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.
The foreign minister again condemned the indiscriminate killing of civilians and urged terrorist organisation Hamas to release hostages.
More than 1200 Israelis have been killed and more than 2700 wounded after an hours-long rampage by militants who breached the fence enclosing Gaza on Saturday. Scores of citizens were taken hostage.
More than 1,000 Palestinians are believed to have died and more than 5,000 were wounded in retaliatory air strikes on Gaza.
Among those killed in Israel was Australian grandmother Galit Carbone, 66, who died at the hands of the Hamas militants who attacked her village, just kilometres from the Gaza border.
With roughly 10,000 Australian residents and even more tourists stranded in Israel, Australian authorities are trying to ascertain their status and bring home those who want to leave.
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.
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, Ms O’Neil said the foreign minister was working through the details.
Senator Wong said the government looked at all options.
“It’s simply the case of what availability could be arranged faster,” she said.
“Obviously, there are occasions where we looked at the RAAF.”
The free-of-charge effort will begin on Friday, when two flights will depart Ben Gurion Airport for London. 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.
Australians who want to make use of those assisted departure flights, or are unable to reach the terminal, have been advised to call the federal government’s 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre.
In a speech at a Melbourne synagogue, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to the lives lost in the violence.
Mr Albanese also assured the Jewish community that anti-Semitism and hateful prejudice has 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.
