The second of six military planes to be used in an operation to rescue Brazilians in Israel departed Brasília on Monday afternoon. A first aircraft had already departed from Natal on Sunday.
Air Force Commander Marcelo Kanitz Damasceno said in a statement that the plan is for the aircraft to remain in Italy awaiting instructions from Brazil’s Foreign Ministry. They will fly to Israel after clearance from local authorities.
Over 1,700 Brazilians have asked the country’s embassy in Tel Aviv for support to leave Israel, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Monday. Residents in Brazil without plane tickets will be given priority. Those who already have a ticket to leave Israel — or who can purchase one — are recommended to board commercial flights at Ben Gurion Airport, “which remains operational.”
Although that is true, major foreign airlines have suspended operations since the Hamas militants charged against Israeli soil on Saturday.
The Foreign Ministry said it received reports of three Brazilians in the region who are missing. The government discouraged non-essential travel to the area.
Brazil’s Representative Office in Ramallah, in the West Bank, is implementing an evacuation plan for Brazilians in the Gaza Strip, in coordination with the Brazilian Embassy in Cairo.
Brazil’s Armed Forces conducted four similar repatriation operations in recent years, in Turkey, Ukraine, China, and Bolivia.
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