The British government is preparing a flight to transport UK citizens out of Israel and the Palestinian territories by “early next week”.
The Foreign Office is today urging stranded Brits to register their presence with the department to be able to book their place on the flight and is considering further flights depending on the demand and the security situation.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “This is a perilous and volatile moment for the Middle East.
“The safety of British Nationals in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories continues to be our utmost priority – that's why the UK government is preparing flights to help those wanting to leave.
“Working closely with the Israeli authorities, our staff are continuing to work at pace to assist British Nationals on the ground and ensure they receive the support they need”.
The JC understands that the flights are set to depart out of Ben Gurion Airport, just outside Tel Aviv.
On Friday, Middle East minister Hamish Falconer said that the government would “provide charter flights for British nationals from Tel Aviv airport when airspace reopens”.
The airspace currently remains closed due to the conflict between Israel and Iran but is set to re-open later today for Israeli repatriation efforts.
Israeli authorities are set to begin operating outbound flights on Monday for tens of thousands of tourists and diplomats seeking to leave the country, as well as for Israelis wishing to travel abroad.
The Foreign Office’s conduct since the start of hostilities between Israel and Iran on June 13 has been sharply criticised.
Other European countries – including Germany and Poland – have organised repatriation flights for citizens from neighbouring Jordan, a move resisted by the Foreign Office, who advised UK nationals not to try to leave Israel by land borders.
The official government advice is not currently for British nationals to leave Israel, and to follow the advice of local authorities.
It says: “Commercial transport services to border crossings (eg taxis and bus transport) are operating, subject to safety alerts. Commercial flights continue to operate from airports in the region to various destinations, including the UK”, but there is currently no transport support offered to Brits who wish to leave to get to those crossings.
This is despite the fact that families of diplomatic staff in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were “temporarily withdrawn as a precautionary measure.”
Former defence and transport minister Lord Spellar accused the Foreign Office of failing to act on the recommendations of a report by a key parliamentary committee following the chaos of repatriation flights during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It said that: while the department “advised UK citizens to make use of commercial flights”, it “did not do enough to help people access those flights”.
The committee went on to urge the government “to offer support that factors in the reality that for many, just because commercial flights are running, it doesn’t necessarily mean that those flights are accessible”.
He told the JC on Wednesday: “Even in spite of the stinging report, it is clear that the dullards in the Foreign Office have learned nothing.”
