Ottawa needs to do more to help Canadians flee Lebanon, says the son of a Canadian couple killed last week when their car was hit by a bomb in southern Israel.
In a phone interview from Bahrain, Kamal Tabaja said he couldn’t sleep knowing more family members, including his Canadian brother, were struggling to find a safe escape route out of the country. .
“There are Canadians left there, so they should get their own planes and boats out and start evacuating,” Tabaha said.
The federal government has been planning for a possible military evacuation for several months, but for now International Affairs Canada is urging people to evacuate on their own while they still have the option.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said about 45,000 Canadians may be in Canada, but only about half of them are registered at the embassy in Beirut.
The ministry on Friday began taking block reservations for seats on commercial flights from Beirut to other countries. Canadian passengers are responsible for finding their way back to Canada from these locations.
Jolie said late Monday afternoon that the government had set aside an additional 800 seats for Canadians, permanent residents and immediate family members over the next three days “to support the expedited removal of Canadians.” The next flight will depart on Tuesday, she said.
“If you are a Canadian citizen in Lebanon, you must leave now,” she said in a social media post. “If you are offered a seat, please sit immediately.”
Before Jolie’s update, Tabaja said it would be about two weeks before his brother, who lives in Beirut, would be able to board a plane.
Tabaja said when she thinks about her brother, she tells herself, “I just have to keep getting stronger.” “We have to keep fighting. We have to survive until this is over.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau traveled to Inuvik, N.V., on Monday to celebrate National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. Prime Minister Trudeau told reporters he was asked to respond to reports that Israel was preparing a limited ground operation in Lebanon.
He spoke with the Lebanese president and reiterated Canada’s call for a ceasefire in the country and the region.
“We know how excruciatingly difficult it is for many people to witness the turmoil in the region, and Canada continues to work with partners in the region and around the world to promote a ceasefire. “We need to put an end to anti-terrorism violence,” he said.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry says hostilities between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah, which have been exchanging gunfire since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas, have escalated significantly, with Israeli airstrikes killing more than 1,000 people in the past few weeks. It is estimated that it did. October.
With both Israel and Hezbollah vowing to continue fighting, other Western countries have also begun stepping up plans to evacuate their nationals, fearing a broader regional conflict.
Some European countries began withdrawing diplomats and citizens from Lebanon on Monday, and Germany used military aircraft.
In addition to evacuating civilians, Tabaja said Ottawa should condemn the ongoing violence and do more to prevent more civilians from being injured.
Global Affairs Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Joly said an immediate ceasefire was needed in Lebanon and “there should be no war.”
She said on social media last week that she had spoken to Tabaja and her brother after the deaths of her parents, her 75-year-old father, Hussein Tabaja, and her 70-year-old mother, Daad Tabaja.
“I condemn the[Israel Defense Forces]attack that killed two innocent people fleeing violence,” Jolie wrote. “We refuse to burden civilians with the costs of this conflict.”
Kamal Tabaja said he called his parents last Monday and advised them to flee their village in southern Lebanon, in the Nabatiyeh district.
“I said, ‘This is not normal. I think it’s time to quit,'” Tabaja recalled. “Everyone was stuck in traffic for about six to seven hours… It was like a bottleneck. Everyone was stuck there.”
He said he and his brother last spoke at some point in the evening and then began to worry after midnight without hearing from their parents. They started contacting local hospitals and asking for help on social media, he said.
Sons of two Canadians killed in Israeli military attack in Lebanon last week The Canadian government needs to do more to help its citizens leave Lebanon as fighting intensifies between Israel and Hezbollah said. Hussein, 75, left, and Daad Tabaja, 70, shown in an undated handout photo, were fleeing their village in southern Lebanon on Monday when their car was hit by an Israeli bomb attack. Canadian Press/HO-Kamal Tabaja,
That’s how they learned that the vehicle had been incinerated near the site of the Israeli bombing.
It matched the description of my parents’ car. The license plates matched. His mother’s watch was found among the wreckage.
Tabaja said her parents’ bodies were formally identified through DNA testing at the hospital on Saturday and were buried the same day. No one could attend the burial because most of his family in Lebanon had been displaced by the conflict, he said. His brother was among them.
“I said, ‘I don’t want you to go. I don’t want to bury more people,'” he said.
He said his family immigrated to Canada in the late 1980s to escape the Lebanese civil war. They were initially denied permanent residency and briefly returned to Lebanon, but were later able to return as refugees and obtain citizenship.
They lived in Ottawa, he said. Eventually, they returned to Lebanon to help their sick maternal grandparents, he said, but they started coming back more often.
Mr Tabaja said he was in “complete denial” about his parents’ deaths and wanted them to be remembered as “people who loved and gave to others”. They loved the outdoors and spending time with their family, he said.
“I have so many memories of my father and mother in the parks, rivers and lakes of Lebanon and Canada,” he said. “I cherish all these images in my heart. They were happy people.”
For Tabaha, an end to the violence will not come soon. He said he has received an outpouring of support from all over the world since his parents’ deaths.
“People loved them,” he said. “They left a mark wherever they went.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2024.
— With files from Lisa Johnson in Inuvik and The Associated Press.
