Q: Do you have information about any French people who might have been taken hostage in Israel? And do you know the number of French people who were on holiday or visiting their families, were due to return to France at the weekend and are stranded there because of the cancelled flights?
A: Regarding the situation of French nationals on the ground, I refer you to our statement issued today.
Nearly 62,000 French nationals are registered at the Consulate General in Tel Aviv and 25,000 at our consulate general in Jerusalem. A lot of French people passing through [the country] are currently over there.
We reiterate our appeal to French people currently in Israel to follow the instructions to be extremely vigilant issued by our teams at the French Embassy in Tel Aviv, the Consulate General in Jerusalem and the Israeli authorities. A crisis unit was set up by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs’ Crisis and Support Centre on Sunday 8 October, in addition to the crisis units set up within the Consulates General in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, to provide all the necessary assistance to our nationals currently in Israel.
As regards the situation in the air, Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv remains open, and commercial flights are being operated to and from that airport. As for Air France’s decision to suspend its flights, we are in contact with the airline to lay down the conditions for the swift return of flights with Israel.
Originally published at https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-files/israel-palestinian-territories/news/2023/article/israel-palestinian-territories-q-a-9-oct-2023
