Evacuations from Lebanon: What We Know

Smoke rises from Beirut southern suburbs, after an Israeli strike, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon October 1, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises from Beirut southern suburbs, after an Israeli strike, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon October 1, 2024. (Reuters)
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Evacuations from Lebanon: What We Know

Smoke rises from Beirut southern suburbs, after an Israeli strike, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon October 1, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises from Beirut southern suburbs, after an Israeli strike, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon October 1, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel launched a ground offensive in Lebanon on Tuesday, escalating a conflict against Hezbollah after a week of air strikes that have killed hundreds.

Several countries have begun evacuating their nationals from Lebanon or are planning to do so.

- Britain -

Britain has chartered a commercial flight for its nationals that will depart from Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport on Wednesday.

The UK government has said further flights may be arranged, depending on demand.

It said it would prioritize "vulnerable British nationals" for Wednesday's flight.

Last week, London announced the deployment of 700 soldiers to Cyprus to prepare for a possible evacuation of its citizens from Lebanon.

- Canada -

Canada has reserved 800 seats on commercial planes to evacuate its citizens from Lebanon, with the next flight scheduled to depart on Tuesday.

About 45,000 Canadians are currently in Lebanon.

The Canadian military has set up emergency resources in Cyprus if commercial flights are interrupted.

- Germany -

On Monday, Germany flew out its Beirut embassy's non-essential staff, their dependents and some of its citizens in Lebanon with medical conditions.

About 110 passengers boarded the German air force A321 plane, which landed in Berlin late in the evening.

The Beirut embassy remained operational to help the estimated 1,800 German citizens in Lebanon "in their departure via commercial flights and other means", the government said.

"We are currently at a stage where we support the departure (of citizens) but we are explicitly not in an evacuation scenario," a government spokesman said on Monday.

- Japan -

Japan is urging its citizens to leave Lebanon on commercial flights and is preparing military flights for their possible return, the government said on Friday.

C-2 military transport planes have been ordered to go to Jordan and Greece to be on stand-by in case Japanese nationals need to be transported out of the region.

Japanese media said there were around 50 Japanese citizens currently in Lebanon.

- Philippines -

The Philippines vowed last week to evacuate 11,000 citizens from Lebanon the moment Israeli forces crossed the border to launch a ground offensive.

"A ground invasion will lead to mandatory repatriation," Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said on Friday, adding the plan was to move thousands out of the country via the sea.

He did not provide details.

Manila had earlier urged Filipinos to leave Lebanon before commercial airlines stopped flying to Beirut.

Millions of Filipinos work in the Middle East. Around 90 percent of those in Lebanon are female domestic workers.

- Portugal -

Portugal evacuated 44 people from Lebanon -- 28 nationals and their families -- by military plane via Cyprus on Saturday evening.

- Bulgaria -

A total of 89 Bulgarians evacuated from Lebanon -- mostly families with children -- arrived in Sofia late Monday. A government plane is expected to make a second flight on Tuesday.

Around 400 Bulgarians live in Lebanon, and so far, 160 of them have declared they want to be evacuated from the country, according to deputy foreign minister Elena Shekerletova.

- Refugees -

The United Nations Refugee agency said on Monday around 100,000 people had fled to Syria from Lebanon due to Israeli air strikes.

The UNHCR representative in Syria said most evacuees were women and children. Around 80 percent were Syrian nationals and 20 percent Lebanese.

Some 210,000 Palestinian refugees live in camps and informal settlements in Lebanon, according to the UN children's agency UNICEF.

An Israeli air strike hit a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, killing several inhabitants, Lebanon's official National News Agency said.



Security Council Voices 'Strong Concern' for UNIFIL after Israeli Attacks

11 October 2024, Lebanon, Qliyaa: United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) peace keeping troops from the Spanish contingent conduct an early morning patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Qliyaa. Photo: Stringer/dpa
11 October 2024, Lebanon, Qliyaa: United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) peace keeping troops from the Spanish contingent conduct an early morning patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Qliyaa. Photo: Stringer/dpa
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Security Council Voices 'Strong Concern' for UNIFIL after Israeli Attacks

11 October 2024, Lebanon, Qliyaa: United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) peace keeping troops from the Spanish contingent conduct an early morning patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Qliyaa. Photo: Stringer/dpa
11 October 2024, Lebanon, Qliyaa: United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) peace keeping troops from the Spanish contingent conduct an early morning patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Qliyaa. Photo: Stringer/dpa

The UN Security Council expressed “strong concern” Monday as Israel has fired on and wounded UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon during intensified fighting, reiterating its support for their role in supporting security in the region.

It's the first statement by the U.’s most powerful body since Israel's attacks on the positions of the peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL began last week, drawing international condemnation.

According to The Associated Press, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix told reporters that Secretary-General António Guterres confirmed Monday that peacekeepers will remain in all their positions even as Israel has urged the peacekeepers to move 5 kilometers north during its ground invasion in Lebanon.

Israel has been escalating its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon across a UN-drawn boundary between the two countries.

The Security Council statement, issued after emergency closed consultations on Lebanon, did not name either Israel, Lebanon or Hezbollah. Read by Swiss UN Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl, the council's current president, it urges all parties “to respect the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel and UN premises.”

US deputy ambassador Robert Wood told reporters that “it’s good that the council can speak with one voice on what’s on the minds of all people around the world right now — and it’s the situation in Lebanon.”

The council's statement sends a message to the Lebanese people “that the council cares, that the council is watching this issue and that the council today spoke with one voice,” Wood said.

Council members also expressed “deep concern” at civilian casualties and suffering, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the rising number of internally displaced people.

More than 1,400 people in Lebanon, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million displaced in the past month. Around 60 Israelis have been killed in Hezbollah strikes in the past year. Israel says it wants to drive the group away from the border so some 60,000 displaced Israelis can return to their homes.

The Security Council statement called on all parties to abide by international humanitarian law, which requires the protection of civilians.
Council members also called for the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war “and recognized the need for further practical measures to achieve that outcome.”

That resolution calls for the Lebanese army to deploy throughout the south and for all armed groups, including Hezbollah, to be disarmed — neither of which has happened in the past 18 years.

Lacroix, the undersecretary-general for peace operations, told reporters after his closed briefing to the Security Council that five UNIFIL peacekeepers have been injured in recent days and that the UN has protested to Israel.

Israel has indicated “investigations will be carried out regarding some of these incidents ... and we will see what comes out of this,” he said.
Israeli Army spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani asserted Sunday that Israel has tried to maintain constant contact with UNIFIL and that any instance of UN forces being harmed will be investigated at “the highest level.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for UNIFIL to heed Israel’s warnings to evacuate, accusing them of “providing a human shield” to Hezbollah.

“We regret the injury to the UNIFIL soldiers, and we are doing everything in our power to prevent this injury. But the simple and obvious way to ensure this is simply to get them out of the danger zone,” he said Sunday in a video addressed to the UN secretary-general, who has been banned from entering Israel.

Lacroix on Monday stressed that all parties have a responsibility to ensure the safety and security of the peacekeepers.
He also said it’s important that the peacekeepers stay in their positions “because we all hope there will be a return to the negotiation table, and that there will be finally a real effort to full implementation of resolution 1701.”