Israel making ‘feverish efforts’ to evacuate 20 Israelis stuck in Ethiopia amid restarting civil war
New war is closely tied to regional web of alliances and interests
The Israeli Foreign Ministry is trying to evacuate some 20 Israeli citizens, who are stuck in Ethiopia after intense fighting broke out between the central government and a new rebel alliance last week.
The Foreign Ministry said Sunday that it was leading “feverish efforts” to find ways to evacuate the group of Israelis that is stuck in the city of Lalibela, in an area in northern Ethiopia where the rebels led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have seized airports and fighting has shut down travel.
“Flights have been canceled indefinitely, and this is no longer just a delay of a few days,” according to a message the stranded Israelis sent to the Foreign Ministry, which Ynet News cited.
“The city’s fuel, food, and cash stocks are extremely limited,” they wrote. Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry stated it is leading “feverish efforts” alongside several other agencies.
Ethiopia’s army has reportedly recaptured the strategic town of Sekota from Tigrayan forces as fighting spreads across Amhara, Tigray and Afar.
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) September 27, 2026
The escalation comes after seven armed groups formed an alliance seeking to overthrow Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government. pic.twitter.com/QUWqaxveQg
It said it was “closely monitoring the situation of Israelis staying in areas where there has been a security escalation,” adding that it was “in contact with the groups and relevant parties.”
“We are continuously examining the options for leaving the area in cooperation with local parties and in accordance with developments and security conditions on the ground,” it added.
Clashes broke out last Tuesday, following the announcement of a new coalition of seven rebel groups, called the “Coalition of Ethiopian Popular Forces for Survival.” The group said it wants to “overthrow the federal government” led by Abiy Ahmed in the capital Addis Ababa.
The government and the TPLF had led a gruesome civil war in 2020-2022, which cost the lives of an estimated 600,000 people amid multiple reports of war crimes on all sides.
Speaking to the British Telegraph, Cameron Hudson, a former U.S. state department official, warned that the new fighting could be “a starter’s pistol for possible civil war ... that could quickly devolve into a wider regional war as it merges into Sudan and Somali conflicts, while being fueled from countries outside the immediate region”.
Ethiopia War:
— Finance Historian (@BoardLotSultan) September 27, 2026
-TPLF Advance (Red Arrow): movement from Tigray (Mekele) southward towards the capital, Addis Ababa.
-ENDF Advance (Yellow Arrow): Ethiopian forces marching northward toward Mekele.
-Regional & Survival Coalition Forces Convergence (Green Arrows):movements… pic.twitter.com/9IJzNOPEF9
Despite being on the outer periphery of the Middle East, the belligerents in Ethiopia, as well as the country’s geopolitical issues, are closely connected to the interlocking web of alliances across numerous of the region’s hot wars and simmering conflicts.
For Israel, numerous aspects make the possible escalation into a new large-scale conflict worth watching. For one, Jerusalem and Addis Ababa have long had relatively warm diplomatic relations, not the least because of Israel’s population of some 150,000 Ethiopian Jews.
Among the main geopolitical reasons for the conflict is landlocked Ethiopia’s need for a better outlet to trade markets. President Ahmed has called the country’s situation a “geographic prison” and classified it as an “existential question,” fueling concern in the neighboring country of Eritrea, which is reportedly supporting the rebel alliance, that Ethiopia could want to take over one of its Red Sea ports.
The area is also close to the Horn of Africa and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which the Yemeni Houthi terrorists have captured recently, making any further change in the status quo highly sensitive.
For Israel, the involvement of its neighbor Egypt and its closest Arab ally, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), also makes the new fighting relevant to its broader security concerns. The two countries have supported opposing sides in the ongoing Sudanese civil war.
Ethiopia and Egypt have long been locked in a conflict over the Renaissance Dam which has reduced water flow in the Nile River.
Addis Ababa has accused Egypt and its allied Sudanese government of supporting the new rebel offensive. On Saturday, the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat cited an Egyptian source who rejected the allegations, adding that Cairo “has nothing to do with such polemics.”
In May of last year, Yoni Ben Menachem, a researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Foreign Affairs and Security, warned that Egypt was “following with concern the tightening of ties between Israel and Ethiopia, viewing them as a factor that threatens the balance of Egyptian national security.”
Ben Menachem explained that the visit to Ethiopia by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar was being interpreted as a move to strengthen its presence in the Horn of Africa and undermine Cairo’s position in negotiations over the Renaissance Dam. “Egyptian diplomats warn that any Israeli support for Ethiopia will strengthen Ethiopia’s position and deepen the regional crisis,” he emphasized.
Ethiopia is closely allied to the UAE, and the two countries have cooperated in building up and using the Berbera port on the Red Sea coast in Somaliland.
Further complicating the regional picture is the fact that the U.S. has recently lifted sanctions on Eritrea’s ruling party and military in a move to “advance U.S. regional interests,” which is probably connected to the Houthi threat across the Red Sea.
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