Britain charters more flights to evacuate Britons from Lebanon amid urgent warning they must leave bomb-ravaged country ‘immediately’
The British government has chartered a limited number of flights to evacuate British citizens from Lebanon, repeating its warning to them to leave the country immediately as Israel continues to drop bombs on Beirut and the south.
More than 150 British nationals and family members left Beirut on a government-chartered flight on Wednesday, with many saying they had “no choice” but to leave their homes amid the escalating situation.
With thousands of British nationals still believed to be in Lebanon and commercial flights completely sold out, the government said it would add more flights to meet demand.
The flights will depart from Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport starting today and “will continue as long as the security situation allows,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The first charter flight to bring British nationals out of Lebanon took off last night before landing in Birmingham at around 8pm, with relieved families pictured reuniting with their loved ones.
Other emotional families were seen hugging their loved ones as they returned to Britain
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in Beirut’s southern suburbs early on October 3, 2024
A plane prepares to take off from Rafik Hariri International Airport as smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, October 1, 2024
This is the emotional moment a man was reunited with his wife at Heathrow airport after she managed to flee war-torn Lebanon
Israel has pounded Hezbollah targets in an intensive air campaign over the past two weeks, killing more than 1,200 people, many of them civilians, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy reiterated the government’s warning to Britain to leave Lebanon, saying the safety of British nationals “remains our top priority.”
“The situation in Lebanon is unstable and could deteriorate quickly. So the British government charters a flight to help those who want to leave. It is essential that you leave now as further evacuation may not be guaranteed.”
Last week it was estimated that between 4,000 and 6,000 British nationals, including family members, were in Lebanon.
The first arrivals of Britons fleeing Lebanon come as Israel continues its ground attacks and aerial bombardment of the country as the IDF tries to push Hezbollah terrorists back from its northern border.
Fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed military group has increased dramatically in recent days.
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Artillery is fired by the Israeli army into Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, seen from Jish, northern Israel, October 2, 2024
An Israeli Apache helicopter fires flares near the Israel-Lebanon border
It follows a devastating series of bombings by the IDF on Beirut, which wiped out a number of top Hezbollah commanders, including feared leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The assassination of Nasrallah, whom Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the “arch terrorist” responsible for attacks in the Middle East, led to a missile attack by Iran on Israel on Tuesday evening.
Tehran fired around 180 ballistic missiles at Tel Aviv in a dramatic and unprecedented bombing that drew widespread condemnation from the West – and now threatens to catapult the Middle East into ‘all-out war’.
And as the fighting intensifies, Britons living in Lebanon are being urged to evacuate the country by any means necessary.