Israeli Palestinian war: Akalites may be forced home if…
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As the Israeli Palestinian war rages on with heavy causalities at both sides and beyond, it appears countries whose citizens are living in Israel will soon start the evacuations of their citizens from the Middle East country. Last week, international media authorities reported that the Israeli military gave an order to civilians living in the Northern part of Gaza to move to the Southern side because of the offensive it has programmed in Gaza. According to the UN report, this warning affects 1.1 million people living in the Northern Gaza.
In response to this order, a report Umuaka Times correspondent in Tel Aviv obtained last week shows that “The first Canadian military plane evacuating citizens flew 128 people from Tel Aviv to Athens on Thursday and a second plane with 153 people will leave soon. More than 1,600 citizens and permanent residents wanted help to leave the region.”
As Canada has begun the process of evacuating her citizens from Israel, it is seriously believed that other countries are preparing to evacuate their nationals too. According to Punch newspaper of 12th October 2023, Lagos pilgrims to Israel narrowly escaped death when Israel came under a heavy attack by the Hamas. The Lagos pilgrims if not by a narrow escape, possibly could have been consumed in the war.
As Nigerian is not known for evacuation of her citizens in times of war in other countries, there is a serious concern about the safety of Nigerians in the country of Israel if the war continues. Akalites who live in Israel who spoke with Umuaka Times last week concluded that as at the time of their interview with the newspaper, they were still safe, prayerful and afraid.
It appears that Nigerian government may be interested or not interested to airlift Nigerians from Israel if the war escalates. If the government offers to airlift her citizens from Israel, a good number of Akalites in the county who mostly live in Tel Aviv will no other option than to come home at no cost. What if the country has no such plans? Only God will know the fate of foreign nationals in the country.
