José Manuel Albares urges the Spaniards remaining in Lebanon to leave the country “as long as there are commercial flights”after Israel began its land invasionwhich the Foreign Minister urged to end. The minister also confirmed that there is a “prepared evacuation plan for when it needs to be activated.”
This is how he spoke during a press conference after the Council of Ministers, where Albares expressed his “greatest concern” about the current escalation, which he defined as “a unbearable conflict for the most fundamental humanity” which “must end as soon as possible.” “We cannot resign ourselves to war being the normal and usual mode of relations between the peoples of the Middle East,” he said. -he affirmed.
Israeli attacks in Lebanon, he stressed, have already left more than 1,600 dead in the country – “the highest number of victims in Lebanon in the last 30 years”, he stressed – as well as thousands injured and nearly a million people displaced within the country. in just a few days. “This spiral of violence must stop,” insisted the minister, who warned that the region was in danger. “on the verge of open war”.
“It is more necessary than ever to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and the unconditional release of all hostages,” he stressed, before also demanding that “the land invasion must stop” in Lebanon.
A “prepared” evacuation plan
Albares also indicated that for the moment there is no trace of a Spanish victim in Lebanon, where Foreign Affairs counted just over a thousand national citizens, including a dozen journalists, in addition to the Spanish contingent under the United Nations flag.
The minister reiterated the request made a few days ago to Spaniards to leave the country “by the commercial means that still exist”. “There is still an airline that offers three weekly flights towards Madrid and there is the possibility of a maritime exit to Cyprus, Turkey and Greece from Lebanon”, he detailed, before recalling that traveling to Lebanon is recommended “under no circumstances”.
“I want once again to urge the Spanish people to As long as there are commercial flights, they leave the country“, especially those who are in transit for tourist or professional reasons”, emphasized Albares, who asked those who remain in the country “to be very attentive to the embassy’s social networks” and to “also check their emails. We are considering going to Lebanon in the near future, we certainly advise against it,” he insisted.
In any case, Albares assured that Foreign Affairs had “an evacuation plan prepared for the moment when it must be activated”, on which he refused to give details “for obvious security reasons”. “We have a detailed evacuation plan“We have the Spaniards perfectly located,” he insisted when questioned by the media.
Thus, he explained that he was in contact with the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, so that the latter “can implement the appropriate means” when it is taken.the political decision to move forward with the evacuation plan.” “The Spaniards who are in Lebanon can have the certainty and security that when we consider that conditions have deteriorated so much that evacuation is necessary, we will do it“, guaranteed the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
