An Australian who was among over 400 evacuated from Lebanon has described leaving Beirut airport to the sounds of bombing amid
Two evacuation flights carrying 407 Australians departed Beirut airport on Saturday and arrived in Cyprus. The evacuees will stay in temporary accommodation in Cyprus before departing on .
Australian teenager Leah Lucas said she heard bombing as the plane was about to leave.
“While we were sitting in the airplane just before takeoff there was a lot of bombing, like around 500 meters next to the airport, and as we were about to take off we heard a lot of bombing,” she told Reuters.
“There was a lot of kids frightened but thank God, like, we know we’re out of that place now and, like, all we can do is just pray for that situation, pray for the people there that don’t have the opportunity to leave like we did.”
Video supplied by the Reuters news agency showed planes landing at Beirut airport in the midst of Israeli airstrikes.
Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, 6 October 2024. Source: AP / Hussein Malla/AP
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles acknowledged the strikes around the airport.
“The suburb in Beirut where there is a Hezbollah presence is not far from the airport, and so we have seen strikes near the airport, but thankfully at this moment the airport remains open,” he said.
Another Australian man who landed in Cyprus and did not give his name thanked Australian authorities for the evacuation measures.
“I was in the south. I lost my house, my kids lost their rooms, our clothes. But it’s fine, life goes on. I wish the best for Lebanon,” he told Reuters.
“I feel very sad leaving my country, but I’m very happy to start a new life in Sydney.”
As the second flight arrived in Cyprus, Australian High Commissioner to Cyprus Fiona McKergow described the mixed emotions of those leaving.
“They are exhausted, exceptionally happy to be here but heartbroken because they left family behind,” McKergow said.
On Sunday night AEDT, two more flights will take off from Beirut for the 45-minute trip to Larnaca.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said today’s evacuation flights to Cyprus are fully booked.
“Please do not travel to Beirut airport unless you have a confirmed seat,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“More flights are planned for coming days, subject to demand and the security situation.”
The first homeward-bound flight, with Qatar Airlines, will leave Cyprus before midnight on Sunday AEDT.
Qantas will operate two 22-hour flights from Larnaca to Sydney on Monday, which will arrive on Tuesday, and on Wednesday.
Australian deputy prime minister Richard Marles said the government is very focused on Australians in Lebanon. Source: Supplied / Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
As of Sunday morning, 3,679 Australians were registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as wanting to leave Lebanon, with 1,765 registered for information only.
Marles said there were also number of Australian defence aircraft on standby to assist departures from Cyprus.
Australian Defence Force personnel are on the ground in Cyprus, Marles said.
“We do have a couple of C1-30 Hercules aircraft which are in Cyprus right now. There is a C17 Royal Australian Air Force plane which is on the ground in Cyprus right now and it will be relocating elsewhere within in the region,” he said.
for the first time as it targeted both Hezbollah and Hamas fighters.
With additional reporting by Australian Associated Press.
