A Belgian army plane landed at Melsbroek military airport yesterday with people who wanted to leave Israel because of the conflict with Hamas. According to the defence ministry, 92 Belgians and other “entitled persons”, mainly relatives, were evacuated. 13 other European nationals were also on board.
Last week there was some commotion over the repatriation of Belgians from Israel. At first, the Belgian government did not want to organise its own repatriation operation because there were still sufficient commercial scheduled flights available for people to leave Israel. At the end of the day the decision was taken for the defence ministry to organise the repatriation.
Dozens of people checked in for the evacuation flight at Tel Aviv airport yesterday morning. According to the defence ministry, 92 Belgians and relatives were on board. They boarded a Belgian military plane in the afternoon. 13 other European nationals were also evacuated. After a direct flight, they landed at Melsbroek airport around 6.30pm.
The people who boarded the plane were happy to leave as they don't know what the future holds and are afraid of rocket attacks constantly being fired at Israel says VRT NWS’s Jens Franssen, who was at the airport. "They are mainly people with dual nationality, who were visiting friends and family."
"It was hard, tough even," one of the repatriated Belgians explained at Melsbroek airport. "Especially for the people there. We were safe, but we did have to take shelter several times. We talked to many Israeli people; everyone has lost someone. It was emotional."
"It was tense," someone else noted. "I am very happy to be on Belgian soil. It's always safe here. It's always good to be home."
125 Belgians and beneficiaries in Gaza
"There are 125 Belgians and relatives in Gaza," Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib (MR) says. "But right now the borders with Egypt are closed, we are waiting for the situation to develop."
Some Belgians remain behind in Israel. Some 20 of them, have indicated that they also want to leave Israel.
More Belgians returned from Israel via other means over the past week. Thousands of people have been taken aboard a cruise ship in the Israeli port city of Haifa and are heading for Cyprus. Belgians were also among their number.