Foreigners Evacuate Lebanon Amid Intensifying Israeli Offensive

By Alkis Konstantinidis and Michele Kambas

ATHENS/LARNACA, Cyprus – Foreign nationals from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East evacuated Lebanon on Thursday as the intensity of Israeli bombings over Beirut increased, prompting governments worldwide to advise their citizens to leave the country.

Countries facilitated air evacuations while others saw hundreds of individuals boarding crowded ferries or smaller boats amid the turmoil in the city. Israel urged residents to evacuate over 20 towns in southern Lebanon as the conflict escalated, drawing in nations like Iran and raising concerns about the United States’ involvement.

A group of Greeks and Greek Cypriots boarded a Greek military aircraft at Beirut airport, many accompanied by children holding soft toys and school bags. Inside the cramped space, some played with glow sticks, while others took refuge in sleep on their parents’ laps as the plane departed from the smoking city below.

The aircraft delivered 38 Cypriots to Larnaca airport in Cyprus, located approximately 200 km west of Lebanon, before heading to Athens, where 22 Greek nationals disembarked. Passengers shared harrowing accounts of the chaos and fear instigated by the ongoing bombing campaign.

"We were trapped; there was no other way to leave because Middle Eastern flights are fully booked, and the earliest you can get is in 10 days," said Giorgos Seib after landing in Larnaca. "Every day the situation gets worse, and we don’t know what will happen tomorrow."

According to Lebanon’s health minister, nearly 2,000 individuals have perished since the onset of Israeli attacks on the country last year, including 127 children. Expatriates have been rushing to leave, prompting governments from China to Europe to implement plans for their citizens’ evacuation.

Russia arranged a special flight for the family members of Russian diplomats on Thursday. Meanwhile, Australia organized hundreds of seats on flights for its citizens to exit the country. A Spanish military plane carrying 204 evacuees landed at a base near Madrid, with another flight expected to bring an additional 40 evacuees later. Spain’s Defense Minister indicated the possibility of deploying more aircraft for continued evacuations, potentially including citizens from other nations.

At Turkey’s southern Tasucu port in Mersin, an American citizen named Gretchen, who had lived in Beirut for five years, boarded an ordinary commercial ferry after flights from Beirut had been canceled. "We are continuously hearing artillery and shelling, and it was just too much," she shared after disembarking. "I just wanted to leave immediately."

Lebanese nationals were also among the passengers, and many who disembarked in Tasucu indicated plans to transit through Turkey on their way to another destination, with some possessing dual citizenship. Sami Al King, a Lebanese man residing in Ghana, chose the ferry option as all flights out of Lebanon were fully booked, and he needed to arrange additional travel to Africa.

"All our families are spread throughout Lebanon, so yes, you worry about leaving your loved ones," King noted. Many evacuees hope to return to Lebanon, where their lives have been established, while others are too traumatized to contemplate their next steps.

Gigi Khalifa, a Libyan Cypriot who relocated to Lebanon four years ago for her children to learn Arabic, expressed her distress: "The bombing was very close; it was very traumatic." Her voice trembled as she spoke in the arrivals hall of Larnaca airport, "I just feel bad for all those people left behind—my friends, my kids’ friends. I don’t know if we will ever see them again."