OTTAWA – Canadians should consider leaving Lebanon while they can because of heightened security risks in the region, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Monday, after Ottawa helped evacuate a group of Canadians from the West Bank into Jordan.

“As the crisis in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel continues to unfold, the security situation in the region is becoming increasingly volatile,” Ms Melanie Joly said on X, the platform formerly called Twitter.

“Canadians in Lebanon should consider leaving while commercial flights remain available.”

Like other countries, Canada is trying to evacuate citizens, permanent residents and their families from the region after Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on Oct 7 and the subsequent Israeli military retaliation.

Canada has been using two military planes to airlift people who needed help leaving Israel, and earlier on Monday, Ms Joly said the first group of Canadians crossed from the West Bank into Jordan safely.

There are also about 300 people in Gaza that Canada is seeking to bring out through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt.

Five Canadians have been killed in the Hamas attack on Israel, an official from the foreign ministry said on Sunday, while three are still missing. REUTERS