Helicopters Rescue Israelis Stranded in Ethiopia Amidst Escalating Conflict

A group of Israelis who were stranded in the northern Ethiopian city of Lalibela has been successfully evacuated after three days of intensive efforts, prompted by escalating security concerns in the region. The rescue operation, conducted via helicopters, transferred the Israelis to a secure area from which they are expected to proceed to the capital, Addis Ababa.

The evacuation was facilitated by the actions of Foreign Minister G Gideon Saar, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Israeli Embassy in Addis Ababa, in coordination with Ethiopian authorities and other relevant parties. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed gratitude to local authorities for their assistance and confirmed that the embassy would continue to support the Israelis until their safe arrival in the capital.

The Israelis became stranded in Lalibela due to the resurgence of fighting in northern Ethiopia. Recent days have seen the conflict between the federal army and Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) forces, along with their allies, expand into the Amhara region, where Lalibela is located. With the local airport non-operational, the group had no air travel options, and ground travel was deemed too dangerous.

The crisis in northern Ethiopia has intensified following the declaration of an alliance against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government by seven armed organizations. The renewed clashes follow the collapse of the Pretoria Agreement, which had ended a two-year civil war in 2022 that resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and displaced hundreds of thousands more.