Canadians in the Crossfire in Lebanon

CBC is reporting that 8 Canadian citizens have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a Lebanese border town. Another six are listed in critical condition. With 16,000 Canadians officially registered as being in Lebanon right now, and several times that number estimated as in-country, the federal government is scrambling to organize an evacuation.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) is advising Canadians to stay indoors, limit movement, and contact the embassy for information. Peter MacKay, minister of DFAIT, has confirmed the casualties, and insists that efforts to secure ships to transport the remaining Canadians to a safer location are underway. Prior to this, he issued a statement on the conflict in general on July 12, saying:

“Canada strongly condemns Hizbollah’s attack on Israel, which has included
the capture of two Israeli soldiers and the launching of Katyusha rockets and
mortar bombs into Israeli towns. These actions only exacerbate tensions in the
Middle East, threaten the lives of civilians, and risk a deteriorating
humanitarian situation.

“We urge Hizbollah to immediately and unconditionally release the
Israeli soldiers. We call on the Lebanese government to do its utmost to restore
order within its border and to fully implement Security Council resolution 1559.
We also call on Syria and Iran, both long time supporters of Hizbollah, to cease
all financial and other assistance to the organization.

“Canada remains deeply concerned about the well being of civilians. We urge
all parties to act with restraint and take all possible measures to protect
innocent civilian lives.”

As of this morning, the Israeli government was adamant that it was indeed showing the utmost restraint, acting in self defence and in response to aggression from militants within Lebanon (but not against the people or government of Lebanon itself). The latest series of Israeli attacks - in response to a series of rockets that struck Haifa (killing eight) - focused on a variety of targets, destroying apartment buildings, knocking out power, and damaging subdivisions.

The NSWG has been following this conflict closely, and we will be posting a series of reports over the coming days and weeks.