Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Canadian citizens still in Lebanon on Saturday to register for evacuation on special flights that have already helped more than 1,000 people leave as security there deteriorates.
An official in Trudeau’s office said Canada has 6,000 people registered to leave, and officials are trying to reach 2,500 more over the weekend, adding that more flights will be added on Monday and Tuesday.
“We still have seats on planes organized by Canada. We encourage all Canadians to take seats on these planes and get out of Lebanon as long as they can,” Trudeau said at a summit of leaders of French-speaking countries in France.
The official in his office said that Canada was unable to fill the flights with its citizens and offered seats to people from Australia, New Zealand, the United States and some European countries.
Israel has expanded its strikes on Lebanon in recent weeks after nearly a year of exchanging fire with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group.
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The fighting was mostly limited to the Israeli-Lebanese border area, and was taking place in parallel with the war that Israel has been waging for a year in Gaza against Hamas.
Trudeau said an immediate ceasefire is needed by Hezbollah and Israel so that the situation can stabilize and UN resolutions can begin to be respected again.
