Iran’s Missile Attack Against Israel a ‘Significant Escalatory Move,’ Says Canadian Defence Minister

National Defence Minister Bill Blair delivers a keynote address at the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries annual defence industry trade show CANSEC in Ottawa on May 29, 2024. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair says his government is watching developments in the Middle East with increasing concern, calling Iran’s Oct. 1 missile attack against Israel a “significant escalatory move.”

Israeli authorities sounded the alarm for citizens to seek bomb shelters at midday as Iranian missiles were being fired. Footage posted on social media by Israel’s foreign ministry showed barrages of projectiles flying through the sky and hitting the ground.

Israeli army radio said nearly 200 missiles were launched by Iran.

The Iranian attack came shortly after the Israel Defense Forces said it began conducting raids in southern Lebanon against military positions of the Iranian proxy Shia militia Hezbollah. Iran’s attack follows Israel’s decimation of Hezbollah’s top commanders in airstrikes, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah last week.

A top Iranian military commander, Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, was also killed during the strikes in the Hezbollah stronghold of Beirut’s southern suburbs, where the group’s headquarters are located.

Iran had attacked Israel with hundreds of drones and missiles in April, most of which were intercepted by air defences, after Israel killed two Iranian generals in Syria.

“I think we have to remain hopeful that there’s a possibility of a ceasefire, a diplomatic resolution of the current conflict,” Blair told reporters in Ottawa on Oct. 1. “But we’re watching with increasing concern about the escalation of violence.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Ottawa condemns “unequivocally” Iran’s attack. “These attacks from Iran will only serve to further destabilize the region, and it must stop,” she said in a media scrum on Oct. 1.

Evacuation Plans

The Canadian government has been warning its citizens for weeks to leave Lebanon. Hezbollah and Israel have been steadily trading blows since Hamas conducted a raid on Israel a year ago on Oct. 7, 2023.

Ottawa is now encouraging Canadian citizens and permanent residents to leave Lebanon immediately by commercial flights while available. Global Affairs Canada secured seats on those flights, and Joly said 200 Canadians left Lebanon this way over the weekend, with another 200 leaving today. Joly also said her department reached out by phone to 700 Canadians in Lebanon to offer a seat on a flight out. She said 50 percent of those contacted accepted the help.

Ottawa also has a more complex evacuation plan if flights become unavailable. During the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, the Canadian military was deployed to the area to help evacuate 15,000 people.

Minister Blair said about 200 Canadian armed forces personnel are in the area now to prepare for a potential evacuation, with facilities in place in Cyprus and Turkey.

“We are increasing our capacity to respond to the needs of Canadians in the region,” he said, adding that he’s looking at using air assets including potentially helicopters.

“Those things are being determined now. It’s part of the pre planning that we’ve already invested in the area,” said Blair.

The minister said the government estimates the number of individuals who could require assistance to be around 40,000.

Blair said at this time Canada doesn’t consider Israel’s incursions into Lebanon to be an invasion but that it “could be preparatory to that.”

Israel military spokesperson Rear-admiral Daniel Hagari has described the operation as “localized ground raids” against Hezbollah strongholds along the Israeli border. Hagari said Hezbollah had turned the south Lebanon villages into a staging ground to conduct raids inside Israel like Hamas did.

Almost a year after the Hamas attack, Israel is continuing its military operations inside the Gaza Strip to eliminate the group.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.