Brazil and Poland send military transports to evacuate citizens from Israel

Military transport aircraft from around the world are arriving in Israel to evacuate citizens from the Middle Eastern country, which declared a state of war on 7 October after a surprise assault from Gaza-based militant group Hamas. The governments of both Brazil and Poland confirmed on 8 October they had dispatched air force transports to retrieve citizens trapped in Israel, which has been under bombardment from thousands of Hamas rockets over the past three days, in addition to a ground incursion through the country’s southern border with Gaza. “We are sending air force transport planes to carry out the evacuation of Poles currently staying in Israel,” Polish president Andrzej Duda said on 8 October. “Soldiers from our special forces will ensure loading protection and safety on board. We are working so that all our compatriots can return home safely.” Poland’s defence minister confirmed the action on 9 October, saying Warsaw has launched an “evacuation bridge” that will transport Polish citizens from Israel to the Greek island of Crete before onward passage to Poland. As of 13:00 GMT on 9 October, the Polish defence ministry confirmed that three such flights had already reached Warsaw, with a fourth en-route. The ministry shared photos of civilians boarding a Polish air force Lockheed Martin C-130 parked at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport. Warsaw has five C-130s in its inventory, according to Cirium data. The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) is also engaged in a similar non-combatant evacuation effort, marshalling even more aircraft to support its operation.<br/>