Charter Evacuation for Organisations in Israel During the Israel-Hamas Conflict

Overview

Amidst the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, International SOS continues to support our clients, having already carried out more than 50 transfers of over 100 people and supported other requests for assistance and evacuations. International SOS arranged multiple charter flights for clients with personnel across Israel. All personnel had to be safely transported in a timely manner from various parts of Israel to Ben Gurion International Airport for the flight. Our dedicated Incident Management Team (IMT) was on the ground to help facilitate the safe and successful evacuation of these individuals. 

Problem

With the diminishing number of commercial flight options available, many organisations sought options to evacuate their in-country personnel from Israel. 
International SOS was able to arrange several charter flights to accommodate these travellers. The challenge was that many of the travellers were spread across various locations in Israel, and all had to meet centrally, at Ben Gurion International Airport for their evacuation flight. Some of these individuals were based as close as 6 miles (10km) from the Gaza border. Coordinating their safe ground transport to the airport on short notice in time for the flight was a significant challenge. The ongoing conflict made it difficult to ensure everyone's safety while moving them to the designated point of departure.

Solution

International SOS worked with its network of in-country security partners to conduct pick-ups and safely transport these individuals from various locations to the airport. In one particular instance, a group of travellers in a city near Gaza needed to be collected with urgency due to the public issuance of a very specific security threat to the city in which they were located. With the escalating danger, we activated our security partner to expedite the pick-up of the travellers.

Impact

Thanks to the coordinated efforts of International SOS and its on-the-ground security partners, all travellers were successfully evacuated. This case highlights the critical role played by International SOS in providing timely and life-saving support to its clients during crises.