Other countries that have evacuated their citizens include China, Germany, Spain, France, Lithuania, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, Brazil among many others.
The United States has thanked Qatar along with other countries for assisting in the evacuation of Americans from Lebanon amid the ongoing Israeli aggression on the country.
In a statement on Friday, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs said its teams have provided 6,4000 additional seats over the past two weeks to evacuate Americans and their families from Lebanon.
“We’re thankful to the governments of Türkiye, Qatar, Oman, Germany, and Greece for their help with these efforts. There are available seats on flights this weekend, and we urge U.S. citizens in Lebanon to take advantage today,” the statement read, without providing figures on the total evacuated.
While the statement did not disclose details on Qatar’s role, it came days after the U.S. State Department Spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said “approximately 900 American citizens” departed from Lebanon on to flights organised by Washington.
The U.S. also booked seats on commercial flights to increase its evacuation of its citizens. An estimated 86,000 U.S. citizens reside in Lebanon, according to State Department figures.
“We have been able to block seats on commercial flights that are leaving. That has continued over the weekend as well. We have now blocked 868 total seats on commercial flights. We don’t know exactly how many of those have been filled because we don’t get an exact number,” Miller told a briefing on October 7.
Other countries have been evacuating their citizens in light of the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the country that has expanded from the south to the capital Beirut.
Since October 8, Israel has killed at least 2,229 people and injured 10,380 others in Lebanon while displacing more than a million people, according to updated figures by Lebanese authorities.
On Thursday, Türkiye evacuated more than 960 people from Lebanon through Turkish ships.
Those evacuated included 878 Turkish nationals, 24 citizens of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and 64 of their immediate relatives, sources from Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry told Anadolu Agency.
Other countries that have evacuated their citizens include China, Germany, Spain, France, Lithuania, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, Brazil among many others.
Meanwhile, Cyprus’s Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said third-country citizens were able to use its territories for evacuations from the region, Reuters reported on October 3.
Around 60,000 people were evacuated through Cyprus during the Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006, according to Reuters.
Last week, almost 350 Australians and their immediate families returned to the country from Lebanon through Cyprus. Australian media reported that Qatari flights helped in the repatriation process.
