America rushes plan to exit its citizens from Israel after confirming victims

Several American governments are taking urgent measures to evacuate their citizens from Israel, following the attacks launched this weekend by militants of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas which have already left 900 dead in Israeli territory, including several victims of American origin.

At least 14 Americans, 7 Argentines, 2 Canadians, 2 Brazilians and 2 Peruvians are among the victims of the Hamas attack on Israeli territory, according to the latest official figures.

Three of the latest victims confirmed this Tuesday were the Peruvian-Israeli Brando David Flores García, 21, who was completing the last days of his military service at a base near the border with Gaza; the Peruvian-Israeli doctor Daniel Levi, missing after Saturday’s attacks, and the Brazilian Bruna Valeanu, 24, who like her compatriot Ranani Nidejelski Glazer was at the music festival where Hamas murdered some 260 people.

Furthermore, this same day, US President Joe Biden confirmed that there are US citizens among those kidnapped by Hamas, although he did not specify the exact number, while the State Department speaks of at least 20 missing.

Meanwhile, some 15 Argentines, 3 Peruvians, 2 Mexicans (presumably kidnapped by Hamas), 2 Colombians, 2 Paraguayans, a Chilean woman and a Brazilian woman were reported missing by their respective governments without confirming at the moment whether they are in the power of Hamas. Evacuation operations

Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Paraguay and Peru are some of the American countries that already have evacuation operations underway for their citizens who have asked to leave Israel after the Hamas attack and the escalation of the conflict.

The Argentine Armed Forces have been carrying out the operation since this Tuesday “Safe Return” to evacuate their compatriots. Official sources informed EFE that some 60,000 Argentines – many of them with Israeli citizenship – reside in that country.

For their part, the Brazilian authorities evacuated 211 compatriots from Tel Aviv today, in the first of the five flights scheduled until next Sunday to repatriate their citizens and the Government of Chile will have three humanitarian flights to transport the 428 Chileans registered at the Consulate in Tel Aviv and at the Chilean Representative Office in Palestine.

In addition, a first plane from the Mexican Air Force with 135 nationals who had been trapped in the Gaza conflict left Israel this Tuesday for Mexico, reported Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena, in an effort to repatriate 1,000 citizens who have expressed their will to leave Israel.

Meanwhile, Colombia will send a plane from its Aerospace Force from Bogotá with the same purpose and in Peru, a country that has at least 70 tourists waiting to return, President Dina Boluarte, announced this Tuesday that they are coordinating everything possible to take them lap.

Meanwhile, 30 Panamanian citizens have already left Israel and 7 Paraguayans will do so in the next few hours, after their governments took the necessary steps for this purpose. Days of support for Israel and Palestine

On the other hand, demonstrations of solidarity with Israel and Palestine have been held throughout America after the Hamas attack last Saturday, most of them in the United States, where on Monday the White House was illuminated at night with the colors of the Israeli flag as a show of solidarity and earlier citizens gathered in cities like New York and Chicago to condemn the attacks by Hamas and the State of Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip.

In the south of the continent, the largest demonstration took place on Monday night in Buenos Aires where the Argentine Jewish community demonstrated against the “terrorism” of Hamas.

There were also days of support for Israel in Colombia and Panama, although not as massive as those in Argentina and the United States.

In Chile, the country with the largest number of Palestinians abroad, on Sunday the Palestine solidarity group of the Chilean Parliament released a harsh statement, while the community, for its part, mobilized at the Palestine Stadium, located in the northern area of ​​the city, where they met to paint posters and prepare for the great vigil for peace that will take place this Tuesday night in front of the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

For Wednesday, different Chilean civil society organizations have called for a large march of solidarity with the Palestinian people in the Plaza de la Constitución, in the center of Santiago.

Declarations, between controversy and forcefulness

In parallel with the repatriation operations, the confirmation of victims and the days of support for Israel and Palestine, the conflict in the Middle East is also giving something to talk about in America due to the position that several leaders have adopted.

Gustavo Petro, from Colombia, and Andrés Manuel López Obrador, from Mexico, have been the leaders most questioned by members of the Jewish community in their countries, for maintaining a neutral position in the case of the Mexican president who this Tuesday decided not to “controversize” with the Israeli Embassy in this regard; or for not forcefully condemning the Hamas attack in the case of Petro, who on Monday was in favor of Palestine and compared the Israeli bombing with the Jewish Holocaust.

However, voices have also been raised in the region condemning the escalation of the conflict and calling for an end to the confrontation, such as the former president of Uruguay José Mujica (2010-2015), who assured this Tuesday that the war between Israel and the Islamist organization Hamas “It is a failure of humanity.”

“A disgrace for the Jewish people and for the Palestinian people. An atrocity and a failure of the United Nations policy, which in more than 50 years has not been able to suture a wound of a historical nature.”the former president assured the press.

Meanwhile, Chilean President Gabriel Boric condemned on Monday “without any nuance” both the attacks by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas against Israel and the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip and the “illegal occupation” of the Palestinian territories.

The escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has left more than 1,800 people dead since Saturday. On the Israeli side, the death toll rises to 900 after the Hamas attack and more than 100 people have been kidnapped and taken to Gaza. While the Israeli bombings on the Gaza Strip have left at least 900 dead and more than 4,500 injured, according to a statement released this Tuesday by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.