Return operations from Israel
Bundeswehr is preparing for an evacuation event
October 13, 2023, 5:04 a.m
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
German citizens are currently being flown out of Israel on special Lufthansa flights. But this path could be blocked if the situation in the country attacked by Hamas were to deteriorate further. The Bundeswehr is therefore taking “preparatory preventive measures”.
The Bundeswehr is preparing to be able to bring German citizens from Israel to Germany if necessary. In coordination with the Foreign Office, “preparatory preventive measures” have been initiated in view of the recent spiral of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, the Defense Ministry said. “In the event of a further deterioration of the situation, the Bundeswehr military evacuation unit would be ready,” it said.
The measures are intended to ensure “that the federal government has taken all the necessary logistical precautions for rapid pickup by the Air Force in the event of a failure of civil flight operations from Israel.” The measures taken include the deployment of joint crisis support teams from the Foreign Office, including soldiers from the Bundeswehr, to Israel and surrounding countries.
In recent years, the federal government has sent Air Force aircraft and heavily armed soldiers several times to fly German citizens and other people in need of protection out of war zones. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius had already made it clear that this would now be fundamentally possible in the event of an escalation in Israel. The SPD politician said on Wednesday: “We are always ready to do what needs to be done if the situation in Israel and the foreign policy assessment of the Chancellery and the Foreign Office allow it.”