South Korea, China Evacuate Citizens from Lebanon as Tensions Rise

 South Korean nationals and their family members arrive after being evacuated from Lebanon with a South Korea's military aircraft at the Seoul airport in Seongnam, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (Yonhap via AP)
South Korean nationals and their family members arrive after being evacuated from Lebanon with a South Korea's military aircraft at the Seoul airport in Seongnam, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (Yonhap via AP)
TT

South Korea, China Evacuate Citizens from Lebanon as Tensions Rise

 South Korean nationals and their family members arrive after being evacuated from Lebanon with a South Korea's military aircraft at the Seoul airport in Seongnam, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (Yonhap via AP)
South Korean nationals and their family members arrive after being evacuated from Lebanon with a South Korea's military aircraft at the Seoul airport in Seongnam, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (Yonhap via AP)

A South Korean military transport aircraft returned 97 citizens and family members from Lebanon on Saturday as Middle East tensions rise, the foreign ministry said.

A KC-330 aircraft left Beirut on Friday afternoon with the evacuees, who include Lebanese family members, and arrived at a military airfield on the south of Seoul, the ministry said.

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday ordered military aircraft to be deployed to evacuate South Korean citizens from parts of the Middle East as conflict escalates between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as the armed group's backer, Iran.

South Korea's defense ministry said it flew a C130J transport plane as backup, which is capable of operating on shorter runways and under fire, as a precaution, and sent 39 military personnel, including mechanics and diplomats.

The government will take further actions to ensure the safety of its citizens, the foreign ministry said without elaborating.

South Korean diplomats stationed in Lebanon remained in the country, Yonhap news agency reported.

More than 200 Chinese citizens have been safely evacuated from Lebanon, China's foreign ministry said on Saturday.

"These people, who have been evacuated in two batches, include three Hong Kong residents and one Taiwan compatriot," the ministry said in a statement in response to a Reuters query on the situation.

"The Chinese Embassy in Lebanon remains firm in Lebanon and continues to assist Chinese citizens remaining there in taking security measures," it added.

On Wednesday, China's official Xinhua news agency said more than 200 Chinese citizens had been safely evacuated from Lebanon by the government.

Taiwan's foreign ministry said three Taiwanese in Lebanon were expected to return to the island this month and that two others had opted to stay for family reasons.

The ministry added that another Taiwanese decided late last month to take a boat out of the country arranged by China, and that the de facto Taiwan embassy in Jordan was aware of that process. It did not elaborate.



Students Occupy Defense Firm Leonardo’s Turin Headquarters to Protest over Gaza

Palestinians carry the body of a man killed in an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, on November 13, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinians carry the body of a man killed in an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, on November 13, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
TT

Students Occupy Defense Firm Leonardo’s Turin Headquarters to Protest over Gaza

Palestinians carry the body of a man killed in an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, on November 13, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinians carry the body of a man killed in an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, on November 13, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Around a hundred students occupied Leonardo's Turin headquarters to denounce what they say is the Italian defense group's complicity in Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

The students, who unfurled a flag of the Palestinian territories from the roof of Leonardo's offices, said the company was supporting Israel by providing remote technical assistance and spare parts to Israel's air force.

Leonardo declined to comment.

Images released by the students show them in Leonardo's offices waving Palestinian flags and carrying spray cans. Outside they hung banners on the buildings saying "no arms to Israel" and accusing the group of complicity in genocide.

They also clambered on top of a plane in the grounds of the company's headquarters.

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto condemned the protest, saying on X that the students were "destroying and defacing" the offices where an "important meeting with the staff of the defense ministry" was taking place.

"These people must be treated for what they are, dangerous subversives. Criminals have no political color, they are just criminals," he said.

Crosetto said in March that Italy had continued to export arms to Israel, despite government assurances last year that it was blocking such sales following the Israeli army's campaign in Gaza triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel.

In March the minister said only previously signed orders were being honored after checks had been made to ensure the weaponry would not be used against Gazan civilians.

Through its US subsidiary, Leonardo provides Israel with aircraft and owns an Israeli radar company called RADA.

Under Italian law, arms exports are banned to countries that are waging war and those deemed to be violating international human rights.