The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense are working together to carry out a military operation that allows the repatriation from Israel of Spanish citizens trapped in the country after the Hamas attack. These are “hundreds” of compatriots who traveled to Israel for tourism or business. That is, for now, the evacuation of the 10,000 Spaniards who live between Israel and the Palestinian territories is not contemplated.
It was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, who announced the military operation during an interview on Antena 3. According to the minister, “a first list” has begun to be drawn up with the compatriots who remain “blocked” at the airport in Ben Gurion International Airport. It is the first step, Albares explained, to have an “exact idea” of how many Spaniards could be affected.
The head of Spanish diplomacy is coordinating with the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, because it will be a military plane from the Air and Space Army that will travel to Israel to carry out the military operation. However, it is not ruled out that more aircraft may travel.
Defense maintains secrecy with the operation. It does not offer more details, but on previous occasions—such as the evacuation of Afghanistan or Sudan—it was A400M aircraft that carried out other operations. This type of aircraft can have a capacity of up to 300 passengers.
From Foreign Affairs they explain to La Vanguardia that, at the moment, there is no date to carry out the military operation, since it depends on the availability and operability of the military aircraft, which depends on Defense. However, the idea is to carry out the operation as soon as possible taking into account that all safety conditions are met.
What is clear, for the moment, is that the Government does not contemplate an evacuation of all Spaniards residing in Israel. This operation is limited to those who traveled for business or tourism.
