Türkiye Says It Will Evacuate Its Citizens from Lebanon by Sea on Wednesday

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike at Dahieh Hadath area in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, late 07 October 2024. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike at Dahieh Hadath area in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, late 07 October 2024. (EPA)
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Türkiye Says It Will Evacuate Its Citizens from Lebanon by Sea on Wednesday

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike at Dahieh Hadath area in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, late 07 October 2024. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike at Dahieh Hadath area in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, late 07 October 2024. (EPA)

Turkish navy ships will evacuate Turks who have applied to leave Lebanon by sea on Wednesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The two ships were expected to set off for Beirut on Tuesday with a total capacity of around 2,000 passengers, the ministry said in a statement.

It said the evacuation process will continue in the following days if necessary, adding that the ships carrying out the evacuation will also transport humanitarian aid to Lebanon.

A foreign ministry source said that around 2,500 Turkish citizens had applied to be evacuated from Lebanon but that after checks it was determined that a ship capacity of 2,000 would be sufficient.

The naval ships will set off on Tuesday from Türkiye’s eastern Mediterranean province of Mersin, the source said.

Türkiye had previously said it was working with around 20 countries on preparing for a possible evacuation of foreign nationals via Türkiye.

Hundreds of people of various nationalities arrived in Türkiye from Lebanon last week on a commercial ferry.



Israel’s Netanyahu Says Israel Has Taken Out Nasrallah’s Successors

Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine speaks during the funeral of Mohammed Nasser, a senior Hezbollah commander who was killed by what security sources say was an Israel strike on Wednesday, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 4, 2024. (Reuters)
Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine speaks during the funeral of Mohammed Nasser, a senior Hezbollah commander who was killed by what security sources say was an Israel strike on Wednesday, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 4, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israel’s Netanyahu Says Israel Has Taken Out Nasrallah’s Successors

Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine speaks during the funeral of Mohammed Nasser, a senior Hezbollah commander who was killed by what security sources say was an Israel strike on Wednesday, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 4, 2024. (Reuters)
Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine speaks during the funeral of Mohammed Nasser, a senior Hezbollah commander who was killed by what security sources say was an Israel strike on Wednesday, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 4, 2024. (Reuters)

Israeli forces have taken out the would-be successors of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, without naming them.

"We've degraded Hezbollah's capabilities. We took out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah's replacement, and the replacement of the replacement," Netanyahu said in a pre-recorded video message.

Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Hashem Safieddine, the man expected to replace the slain Nasrallah, had probably been "eliminated".  

It was not immediately clear whom Netanyahu meant by the "replacement of the replacement".  

Safieddine, a top Hezbollah official was widely expected to succeed Nasrallah, according to Reuters.

"Hezbollah is an organization without a head. Nasrallah was eliminated, his replacement was probably also eliminated," Gallant told officers at the military's northern command center, in a brief video segment distributed by the military.  

"There's no one to make decisions, no one to act," he said.  

Safieddine had been running Hezbollah alongside its deputy secretary general Naim Qassem since Nasrallah's assassination and was expected to be formally elected as its next secretary general, although no official announcement had yet been made.  

Qassem said in a televised statement on Tuesday that the group will elect a new secretary general and will announce it once it has been done.