Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday that it is conducting “feverish efforts” to help approximately 20 Israeli citizens who remain stranded in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region as rebel forces continue advancing.

Fierce fighting resumed last week between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopia’s federal government, reviving concerns that the country could once again descend into the devastating civil war that raged from 2020 to 2022 and left an estimated 600,000 people dead.

The Israelis are currently in the city of Lalibela, where flights have reportedly been suspended and traveling by road has become hazardous.

“Flights have been canceled indefinitely, and this is no longer just a delay of a few days,” the stranded Israelis said in a letter to the Foreign Ministry, according to the Ynet news site. “The city’s fuel, food, and cash stocks are extremely limited.”

One of the stranded Israelis told the outlet: “We have made an urgent appeal to the Foreign Ministry to examine safe evacuation options.”

In response to the letter, the Foreign Ministry said that it and several other agencies are “leading feverish efforts” to arrange the Israelis’ evacuation.

The ministry said it was “closely monitoring the situation of Israelis staying in areas where there has been a security escalation,” and added 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,” the ministry said.

Rebel Offensive Expands

Local sources cited by AFP said TPLF forces have captured several airports in Tigray while expanding attacks into the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara.

A humanitarian source said the town of Erebti in Afar, located close to the Tigray border, was captured by the rebels Sunday following intense artillery bombardment. The TPLF was reportedly continuing its advance toward Afdeera, approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) farther east.

The humanitarian source estimated that at least 150,000 people have been displaced in Afar, while cautioning that an exact figure could not be determined.

The TPLF has formed an alliance with seven armed groups elsewhere in Ethiopia and appears to be pursuing a strategy similar to that used during the previous conflict, advancing southward through Amhara in the direction of the capital, Addis Ababa. The offensive in Afar also appears intended to disrupt supply routes from Djibouti, the principal entry point for Ethiopia’s international cargo shipments, including fuel.

At the same time, Tigrai TV, regarded as a major media outlet for the rebel authorities in the Tigrayan capital of Mekelle, was struck by a drone early Sunday.

“We heard a loud bang from a drone strike elsewhere and we fled the building,” a journalist from the station told AFP, speaking anonymously. The broadcaster had not issued a public statement about the incident.

Photographs taken by a local journalist showed significant damage to the exterior of the Tigrai TV building, including a blackened facade and numerous windows shattered by the blast.

Another journalist said the station, which employs roughly 400 people, stopped broadcasting following the attack. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Ethiopia’s federal government in Addis Ababa announced on September 21 that Tigrai TV had been suspended “indefinitely” and prohibited other media outlets from airing its reports.

Communications Disrupted as Fears of Blockade Grow

Communication services across Tigray have been severely restricted since Friday, when major telecommunications providers reported extensive disruptions to phone and internet networks, complicating efforts to document developments on the ground.

Residents are increasingly concerned that the region could once again face the type of blockade imposed by the federal government during the 2020-2022 war. During that conflict, electricity and banking services were cut off, while humanitarian assistance was largely prevented from reaching the population.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern Friday, with his spokesman saying he was “particularly troubled by reports of the use of drones as well as incidents of harm to civilians.”

Ethiopia’s federal government holds substantial military advantages, including a large drone arsenal and an army estimated at roughly 500,000 troops, as well as foreign backing, particularly from the United Arab Emirates. However, the renewed fighting could potentially involve neighboring Eritrea, which may support the rebels because of concerns that landlocked Ethiopia has been considering military action to secure direct access to the Red Sea.

The TPLF controlled Ethiopia’s national government from 1991 until 2018, when it was pushed aside following the rise of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali. Political tensions eventually erupted into civil war, during which widespread allegations of war crimes and sexual violence were reported.

The 2022 Pretoria Peace Agreement, negotiated with the involvement of African institutions and Washington, brought an uneasy halt to the fighting. However, the agreement was never fully implemented, and roughly one million people have remained unable to return to their homes.

Intermittent fighting subsequently returned, with federal forces carrying out multiple drone strikes in Tigray in recent months while deploying additional troops near the region’s borders. Rights organizations have also accused the TPLF of conducting forced recruitment this year as it prepared for the possibility of renewed fighting.