Canada is training troops in case of an exodus from Lebanon: sources – National
The Canadian Armed Forces are changing their stance on the Lebanon crisis and increasing troops in the region to give the government more flexibility — including the ability to move quickly if an evacuation of Canadian citizens is ordered, Global News has learned.
The Canadian plan has been ready for months and some supplies have been prioritized. But on Wednesday night, the soldiers received orders to be ready to leave Canada in 48 hours.
Time is irrelevant to the situation at hand and there is a lot of preparation for what will be a very complex task if it goes ahead, sources said.
Canada and Australia have jointly chartered a cruise ship for deported Canadians, Global News has also learned.
Nearly 700 people have been killed in Lebanon this week – including two Canadians – as Israel escalates strikes, which it says are targeting Hezbollah. The US, Canada and other allies have called on both sides to accept a 21-day moratorium, a proposal Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to reject on Thursday.
The federal government has been urging Canadians to leave Lebanon on commercial flights for months as the situation worsens. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told reporters on Wednesday that commercial flights remained the safest option from Lebanon and that no evacuations had been ordered yet.
The sources said the warnings to leave now were based on concerns about how chaotic the evacuation could become if the situation worsened. Sending troops to the region now will give them the ability to move quickly if ordered to leave, the sources said.
Get daily world news
Get the day’s top news, politics, economics, and current affairs, delivered to your inbox once a day.
Joly said on Friday about 45,000 Canadian citizens are in Lebanon. Global Affairs Canada said Wednesday that 20,773 Canadians in Lebanon are registered with the agency.
The government said “thousands” of Lebanese Canadians have family members and loved ones currently in Lebanon.
Canada does not have permanent military bases in the region the way the American and British forces do, making it necessary for Canada to get troops and supplies in advance to ensure that the oppressed try to enter Lebanon, the sources explained.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Defense Minister Bill Blair reiterated the government’s call for Canadians to leave Lebanon now on commercial flights, but added that Canada would help if needed.
“We have a responsibility to Canadians around the world, and if Canadians find themselves in danger, the Canadian government will be there to support them,” he said.
“We will be ready to respond to whatever happens.”
Joly said on Wednesday that his department has been working with regional partners for months to prepare for the evacuation of people and to prioritize other goods, and to strengthen its diplomatic presence in Lebanon to help Canadians with the documents needed to leave the country.
The ministry told Global News that over the weekend it saw an increase in the number of inquiries at its Emergency Monitoring and Response Centre, with many requests related to travel options, travel documents and visas.
Joly added that the situation is still volatile and there are concerns about the possibility of the closure of airports, which will complicate evacuation efforts and the ongoing damage from the 2020 explosion at the Port of Beirut, Lebanon’s main seaport, as an example of the challenges involved. .
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday did not answer reporters’ questions about when the government might order Canadians to leave Lebanon, but said the government would continue to help with the move.
“The time to leave Lebanon was a few weeks ago, but if you are still there, you need to leave if you are Canadian,” he said while speaking to the media with French President Emmanuel Macron in Montreal.
He also urged Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a proposed 21-day truce, which Trudeau said “has been met by all parties” — suggesting, as the White House confirmed earlier Thursday, that Israel had agreed to the deal before it was officially offered. .
“There are too many lives at risk – not only in Lebanon, not only in the region, but around the world,” Trudeau said.
—With additional files from Saba Aziz
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
