Qatar offers to bring Australians home from war torn Israel

As the government works to bring Australians stranded in war-torn Israel back home, a surprising ally has offered to help.

Qatar Airways have offered to help the Australian government bring home thousands of citizens stranded in Israel despite the troubled relationships between the carrier and the Commonwealth.

The Middle Eastern airline has been in the spotlight after the Albanese government rejected their bid for more airspace just months ago.

The decision, which the Coalition labelled a “sweetheart deal” between the Commonwealth and Qantas, has been under scrutiny in a senate inquiry.

But The Daily Telegraph understands Qatar has now offered the government additional airlines to bring the approximate 10,000 Australians home via Oman and Doha.

The airline has previously assisted in repatriation missions during the fall of Kabul and the Covid pandemic.

Qatar Airways have stepped up.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has already confirmed that Qantas repatriation flights will begin leaving Israel on Friday.

“We understand that many Australians are experiencing difficulties with delays and cancellations with commercial flights,” Mr Albanese said in a press conference on Wednesday.

“We understand that many Australians are experiencing difficulties with delays and cancellations with commercial flights.

“For Australians who do not already have plans to leave through commercial options, Australian government-assisted departure flights will depart from Friday.”

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neill said there is likely to be a large demand for repatriation flights.

“There are about 10,000 people of dual citizenship who live in Israel at the moment, and somewhere around 45,000 Australians also travel to Israel each year. So it’s possible that there will be quite large demand over time for these flights,” she told ABC news.

“We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen in the coming weeks and months and it’s possible that there’ll be an initial rush of people out of Israel, but then later others will want to leave.”