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Amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, Australia has instructed all non-essential personnel to withdraw from Israel and the United Arab Emirates. This decision comes two weeks after the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran intensified in the region.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced that the directive was issued “in response to the worsening security conditions.”
“Essential Australian officials will remain on the ground to assist Australians in need,” Wong stated in an announcement shared on social media Thursday night.
She further advised, “We continue to strongly caution Australians against traveling to Israel and the UAE.”
“If you are in the Middle East, we urge you to leave if it is possible and safe to do so,” Wong added.
Wong’s statement comes after the government told families of Australian officials in Israel and Lebanon to leave in the days before the war began on 28 February.
Voluntary departures were also offered to diplomats’ dependents in the UAE, Jordan and Qatar.
The war has so far killed about 2,000 people and caused the biggest disruption to global oil supplies in decades.
Oil prices that had come down earlier this week after US President Donald Trump said the war would soon be over soared back above US$100 a barrel after an apparent escalation in Iranian attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf.
The two-week-old conflict has prompted thousands of Australians to flee the region, with the government saying on Tuesday that more than 2,600 Australians were returning home on commercial flights.
Wong said the overwhelming majority of Australian citizens who were travelling through the Middle East and became stuck when the war broke out had returned home.
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