Foreigners flee Lebanon as Israeli offensive intensifies

Athens/Larnaca: Foreign nationals from Europe, Asia and the Middle East fled Lebanon on Thursday as Israel's bombing of the capital Beirut intensified and governments worldwide urged their citizens to get out.

Some countries provided air evacuations, while elsewhere hundreds of people boarded crowded ferries or smaller vessels as bombs fell on the heart of the city.

Israel on Thursday urged residents to evacuate more than 20 towns in southern Lebanon, in an escalating conflict that has drawn in Iran and risks drawing in the United States.

Dozens of Greeks and Greek Cypriots boarded a Greek military aircraft at Beirut airport, many of them children clutching soft toys and school bags. In the cramped conditions onboard, some played with glow sticks, while others slept on their parents' laps as the plane left behind the smoking city below.

The plane dropped off 38 Cypriots at Larnaca airport in Cyprus, about 200 km (124 miles) west of Lebanon, and continued on to Athens, where 22 Greek nationals disembarked.

Those onboard, like many fleeing by other means, spoke of the growing chaos and terror caused by the bombing campaign this week.

"We were trapped, there was no other way to leave because Middle East aeroplanes are full and the earliest flight you can get is in 10 days," Giorgos Seib told Reuters on the runway at Larnaca airport after landing.

"Every day the situation gets worse and we don’t know what will happen tomorrow."

Nearly 2,000 people have been killed since the start of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon in the last year, including 127 children, Lebanon's health minister Firass Abiad said on Thursday.

Expatriates have been scrambling to leave and governments from China to Europe have drawn up plans to get their citizens out.

Russia organised a special flight for the family members of Russian diplomats on Thursday. Australia has organised hundreds of airline seats for its citizens to leave.

A Spanish military plane carrying 204 evacuees landed at the Torrejon air base near Madrid on Thursday. Another plane carrying 40 more was expected to arrive later. Defence Minister Margarita Robles has said Spain might send more planes to keep running the evacuation process, possibly including citizens from other countries.

Trauma

At Turkey's southern Tasucu port in Mersin, Gretchen, an American citizen who lived in Beirut for five years, said she arrived on an ordinary commercial ferry because flights in Beirut were cancelled over the last few days.

"We are continuously hearing artillery and shelling and it was just too much," she said after disembarking. "I just wanted to leave immediately."

Lebanese nationals were also on the boat. Many who got off in Tasucu said they would transit in Turkey en route to another country. Some said they have a second citizenship elsewhere.

Sami Al King, a Lebanese man who lives in Ghana, took the ferry as all flights out of Lebanon were booked and he still needed to book buses and planes to make his way to Africa.

"All our families are extended throughout Lebanon. So yes, you are worried you are leaving your loved ones," said King.

Many hope to return to Lebanon, where they have built their lives. Others are too traumatized to say yet.

Gigi Khalifa, a Libyan Cypriot, moved to Lebanon four years ago so her two children could learn Arabic.

"The bombing was very close, it was very traumatic," she said, her voice breaking in the arrivals hall of Larnaca airport.

"I just feel bad, you know? For all those people left behind. My friends, my kids' friends. I don’t know if we will ever see them again."