Canada has announced that it has removed the children of diplomatic staff in Tel Aviv due to the “unpredictable security situation” and fears of possible retaliation for the recent killings attributed to Israel.
Canada’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said Thursday that it “has made the difficult decision to transfer the dependent minors of Canadian staff in Tel Aviv,” according to a statement.
“The minors and their legal guardians from the Canadian Embassy in Israel have arrived in a third country and are all safe,” it added.
The ministry also noted that since August 3, it has advised Canadians not to travel to Israel or the occupied West Bank due to the deteriorating security situation in the region.
Canada’s decision comes as Israel braces for possible retaliation from Hezbollah over the killing of the Lebanese Shiite group’s military chief Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike outside Beirut on July 30.
Iran has also threatened to retaliate against Israel over the assassination in the Iranian capital last week of July of the then political leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh. Tehran has blamed Tel Aviv for the attack.
The US Army Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed on Thursday that it was sending F-22 fighter jets to the area of operations, which includes the Persian Gulf, justified by the need to respond to potential threats from Iran and its allies.
On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israeli territory in which around 1,200 people died and around 250 were kidnapped, according to a count by the Agence France-Presse news agency based on official Israeli figures.
Nearly 100 Israeli hostages were released in late November in a truce in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, and 132 remain in Gaza, 28 of whom are believed to have died.
In response to the attack, Israel declared war on Hamas, classified as a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States, bombing several of the group's facilities in the Gaza Strip, while imposing a total siege on the territory, cutting off water, fuel and electricity supplies.
The Israeli offensive has left at least 39,700 dead and more than 91,700 injured, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, controlled by Hamas, which has been in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007.
