The British government has chartered a limited number of flights to evacuate British citizens from Lebanon, while reiterating its warning for them to leave the country immediately as Israel continues to drop bombs on Beirut and the south.
More than 150 British citizens and their dependents 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 citizens still believed to be in Lebanon and commercial flights completely sold out, the government said it was arranging more flights to meet demand.
The flights will depart from Beirut’s 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 taking British citizens out of Lebanon took off last night before landing in Birmingham at around 8pm, and relieved families are 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 the southern suburb of Beirut 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 husband reunited with his wife at Heathrow airport after she managed to flee war-torn Lebanon.
Israel has attacked Hezbollah targets in an intense air campaign over the past two weeks, leaving more than 1,200 people dead, many of whom are civilians, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy reiterated the government’s warning to Britons to leave Lebanon and said the safety of UK citizens “remains our top priority”.
‘The situation in Lebanon is volatile and has the potential to deteriorate rapidly. That’s why the UK government is chartering a flight to help those who want to leave. It is vital that you leave now as further evacuation may not be warranted.
Until last week, there were thought to be between 4,000 and 6,000 UK citizens, including their dependents, in Lebanon.
The first arrivals of Britons fleeing Lebanon come as Israel continues its ground assault and aerial bombardment of the country as the IDF seeks to push back Hezbollah terrorists from its northern border.
Fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed military group has escalated greatly in recent days.
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, October 2, 2024.
The Israeli army fires artillery into Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from Jish, northern Israel, on October 2, 2024.
An Israeli Apache helicopter drops flares near the Israel-Lebanon border
It follows a devastating series of bombings by the IDF in Beirut in which several senior Hezbollah commanders were wiped out, including its feared leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
The assassination of Nasrallah, whom Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an “arch-terrorist” responsible for attacks across the Middle East, triggered a missile attack by Iran against Israel on Tuesday afternoon.
Tehran fired some 180 ballistic missiles at Tel Aviv in a dramatic and unprecedented bombardment that drew widespread condemnation from the West and now threatens to catapult the Middle East into “total war.”
And as fighting continues to escalate, Britons living in Lebanon have been urged to evacuate the country by any means they can.
