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Louise Thomas
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The first charter flight carrying British citizens out of Lebanon has landed in Birmingham amid escalating conflict in the Middle East.
The Dan Air plane touched down at Birmingham International Airport shortly before 8.40pm, having departed from Beirut and stopped off in Bucharest, Romania, on its journey.
Foreign secretary David Lammy said earlier on Wednesday that more charter flights have been arranged for this week following Israel’s ground offensive into southern Lebanon against the Iran-backed Hezbollah – which has followed more than a week of heavy bombardment.
The Israeli military has warned people to evacuate around 50 villages and towns across southern Lebanon with intense clashes with Hezbollah forces.
Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in the past year and around 1.2 million people have been displaced from their homes, Lebanese authorities say. The majority of the deaths came in the past two weeks.
There are believed to be around 4,000 to 6,000 Brits in Lebanon, many of whom have been left unable to book flights out of the country due to cancellations and skyrocketing prices.
But the UK government announced this week that a charter flight would carry hundreds of Brits home, at a price of £350 per head.
Foreign secretary David Lammy wrote on X/Twitter on Wednesday afternoon: “The first charter flight taking British nationals out of Lebanon has now departed.
“We have arranged another flight for tomorrow, and further flights over the coming days for as long as there is demand and it is safe to do so.”
Defence secretary John Healey met with hundreds of British troops who were deployed to Cyprus to prepare for a possible evacuation.
Mr Healey said: “They briefed me on the plans, they are ready to go if needed. I have every confidence in our ability to do the job if required. But for now our government advice to all Brits in Lebanon is get out now.
“It’s vital that we as nations, if we have to, are able to get our nationals out of Lebanon safely. Israel understand that, they understand that well, and we will continue to make that case.”
Mr Healey also met Cypriot counterpart Vasilis Palmas on Wednesday for talks about the crisis and to discuss potential evacuation plans.
He also stressed to Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant the need to “avoid this conflict spiralling into a wider regional war”, adding that the UK’s support for Israel remains “steadfast”.
Speaking in Brussels before talks with European Union bosses, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “We do need to pull back from the brink and to encourage all parties to find a way to de-escalate and for a political solution to the very many fronts of the crisis in the Middle East.”
