The majority of the Europeans who were evacuated from Lebanon on a Belgian military aircraft on Thursday night were from Belgium, the Netherlands, and France, according to the Brussels government.
A foreign ministry spokesperson told AFP on Friday that the aircraft carried “58 Belgians and dependents, 41 Dutch citizens, 11 from France and one from Luxembourg,” when it landed at the Melsbroek military base close to the Belgian capital.
Almost 150 of the approximately 1,800 Belgians residing in Lebanon have received help to return home during the last week, according to him.
Last Monday, a first group departed on two planes that the Netherlands had scheduled.
It featured two Belgian journalists who were assaulted and hurt in Beirut on October 2–3, when they were covering an Israeli bombardment of the city.
“All the Belgians who wanted to leave have been able to do so. We are continuing to assess the situation,” the spokesman said.
On September 30, Israeli military forces entered Lebanon with the stated intention of putting an end to Hezbollah’s cross-border firing in support of Hamas, a Palestinian militant organization that had attacked Israel on October 7 and started a catastrophic conflict in Gaza.
*
Email *
Website
