More than 800 Canadians leave Israel during the conflict: Officials – State
More than 800 Canadians, permanent residents and family members are known to have left Iran, Israel and the West Bank since the government began helping those who hope to escape the deadly conflict.
Canada Global Affairs said in a daily update late Wednesday that the agency is also aware that many Canadians in the Middle East have achieved security independently.
A tough ceasefire between Israel and Iran appears to be taking place on the third day after 12 days of missile and drone attacks between the two countries.
U.S. President Donald Trump negotiated a ceasefire that took effect on Tuesday following Sunday's U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facility. Further negotiations are expected next week between the United States and Iran.
On Thursday, Iran partially reopened airspace in the eastern half of the country, including those passing through Iranian airspace. The airspace has been closed since the initial Israeli attack on Iran two weeks ago.
Canadian consular officials have been helping people leave Iran to travel to a safe third country since last week. They did the same for the Canadians in Israel, whose main international airports were closed throughout the war and the West Bank.
Get the daily national news
Get news, politics, economics and current events titles delivered to your inbox every day.
Canadian Global Affairs said on Wednesday that the government's bus from Tel Aviv and Ramallah to Jordan kept seven people safe.
The day before, 95 people traveled from Jordan to Greece on government constitutional planes, and consular officials provided additional assistance to travelers.
The government has answered more than 6,000 calls, emails and messages from Middle Eastern Canadians since June 13, requesting help or information from the government’s emergency response center in Ottawa since June 13.
“All Canadians, permanent residents and eligible family members are asking the Canadian government to leave the region for information about available departure options,” it said.
The government urges Canadians and Iranian permanent residents to register for foreign citizen registration services on their behalf and provide their mobile phone numbers so that they can receive text updates.
As of Wednesday, there were nearly 5,550 registrants in Iran and 6,400 in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Canadian Global Affairs notes that these figures do not reflect the exact number of Canadians in these countries, as the registration service is voluntary and may contain outdated information.
The State Department said Tuesday it has helped about 400 U.S. citizens since Saturday, others flew out of Israel, while hundreds left Iran through neighboring Azerbaijan.
The department shared information about leaving the area and safety and security with more than 27,000 people, up from 25,000 last week.
Since the conflict broke out, dozens of other countries have helped their citizens evacuate the area, mainly by helping people travel to a safe third country by riding on land or sea.
Tehran said earlier this week that 606 people were killed and 5,332 were injured in the conflict in Iran. The Washington-based group of human rights activists released figures on Wednesday showing that Israel's strike against Iran killed at least 1,054 people and injured 4,476 people.
The group provided detailed casualties in multiple rounds of unrest in Iran, saying 417 people killed were civilians and 318 were security forces.
According to officials there, at least 28 people were killed in Israel and more than 1,000 were injured.
– Documents with the Associated Press and Reuters
& Copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
