Lebanon: Emotional scenes as families escaping war-torn Middle East touch down in Australia
Hundreds more Australians are expected to escape from Lebanon as repatriation flights continue to bring people home.
Israel has escalated its violence in the Middle East, expanding its campaign against the designated terrorist group Hezbollah by bombing and invading Lebanon.
Australian politicians have been calling on citizens to return home through whatever means possible - government-assisted flights or commercial options.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Hundreds of Australians have been helped out of Beirut by the Australian government, which has organised flights from the Lebanese capital to Larnaca in Cyprus.
From there, a Qantas flight is expected to bring up to 220 people back to Australia on Tuesday evening.
People have already begun arriving, with 349 Australians and their families touching down in Sydney on Monday night after taking a government-assisted repatriation flight operated by Qatar Airways.
As he embraced his children at Sydney Airport, elated father Ahmad Hamid thanked the Australian government for helping them get home safely.
“We got our kids back from Lebanon, from the war. Thank you very much,” he said.
“The situation is very bad (in Lebanon) - the war and the airplanes.
“We spent 10 days on the phone every night. We couldn’t sleep, especially with three kids there.”
Another Qantas flight is expected to arrive in Australia on Thursday.
In two weeks, Israel’s bombing campaign has killed more than 1400 Lebanese people and left another 1.2 million without homes.
This new front in Israel’s war opened after a year of violence in Gaza.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas led an attack on Israel, killing 1200 and taking more than 200 hostages, according to the Israeli government.
In response, Israel has bombed and invaded Gaza while laying siege to its population, killing more than 41,000 people and leaving most of the territory’s residents displaced and facing starvation.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended a vigil to mark the first anniversary of the designated terrorist organisation’s attack, while protesters called for a free Palestine and a ceasefire in major demonstrations across the country.
Hezbollah has traded fire with Israel over its war in Gaza but in late September, Israeli forces ramped up their offensive, prompting Australian politicians to call for a ceasefire.
