“As soon as I saw Aussies, I became emotional,” said Estephan, who will return home via Sydney airport.
The evacuation is the first large-scale operation to get citizens out of the country as Israel intensified its assault against Hezbollah over the past two weeks, shifting its focus from Gaza to the northern front. It has killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, launched air strikes across Lebanon and sent troops into Lebanon’s south for the first time in almost two decades.
A child gives the thumbs-up on a bus as Australian nationals evacuated from Lebanon arrive at Larnaca International Airport.Credit: Getty Images
More than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced from their homes, according to the United Nations.
Some were on holidays or visiting loved ones when violence escalated, with their commercial flights home cancelled; others ignored warnings for weeks to get out, not believing the situation would not escalate after nearly a year of lower-level cross-border conflict waged in parallel with Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Bilal Nassour, from Sydney, said he – like many on the flight – felt guilty after leaving family and friends behind in a place that is now incredibly dangerous.
“It was a very bad situation,” he told journalists. “We want to thank all the Australian government, everyone support us and help us to come out of this crisis … we have a lot of families, a lot of friends left over.
Australian nationals evacuated from Lebanon arrive at Larnaca International Airport.Credit: Getty Images
“You know, if I have any safe place to stay, I won’t leave to support them … but my house is in the middle of the crisis, where all the bombs drop every day, so I have to leave. But my heart [is] with all the families and friends in Lebanon.”
They will stay at Larnaca’s army barracks before their departure, with the first of two Qantas flights scheduled to leave Cyprus on Monday night local time, arriving in Sydney on Tuesday. If the number of evacuees exceeds 600, closed school halls will be used to accommodate them.
A second flight is expected to leave on Wednesday, with the time to be confirmed.
“They are exhausted, exceptionally happy to be here but heartbroken because they left family behind,” Fiona McKergow, Australia’s high commissioner to Cyprus.
A family that was evacuated from Lebanon after war broke out.Credit: Getty Images
She thanked Cypriot authorities for their help and urged Australian nationals in Lebanon to get out as soon as possible and said more evacuations could be underway on Sunday.
Almost 5000 Australians are registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with 3088 registered as wanting to depart, and 1813 registered for information only. More than 700 have departed or self-closed their registration.
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In the past week, Cyprus assisted evacuations by China, Greece, Portugal, and Slovakia. Britain and the United States have also moved personnel to Cyprus to assist in military evacuations, if necessary.
Cyprus, a fellow Commonwealth nation, had been used to evacuate close to 60,000 people from Lebanon in the last serious escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.
Houra Dirani, from Melbourne, said she had been in Lebanon for her sister’s engagement, and was it was a tough decision to leave. “It’s mixed emotions because we are leaving family behind,” she said. “We were here for a holiday for two months, and our holiday turned into a nightmare.”
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