The first plane of the Ministry of Defense sent to Lebanon, an A330 of the Air and Space Force, has already arrived in Spain with 204 people on board, the first citizens evacuated from this country as part of the operation launched by Spain in response to the escalation. . of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
The plane, which left early this morning for Beirut, the Lebanese capital, from Djibouti, landed at Torrejón air base around five in the afternoon, Defense Ministry sources reported.
The second of the military planes, an A400M also from the Air Force, took off this morning from Zaragoza a few hours after the first and is already heading towards Spain with around 40 people among its passengersinformed Efe.
With this second flight, the government has already evacuated more than 240 citizens, including around 190 Spaniards (out of around a thousand who reside in this country), around forty Lebanese and the rest are nationals of Argentina, America, Italy, France, Kingdom -United and Venezuela. Defense Minister Margarita Robles has not ruled out sending a third plane if necessary.
On the other hand, the spokesperson for the United States Department of State, Matthew Millerconfirmed that the Biden administration She organized a charter flight this Wednesday to evacuate American citizens in Lebanon who had requested it, and indicated that there would be new repatriation flights “depending on demand.”
Miller said during a press conference that just over a hundred people were traveling on the plane, including American citizens and their family members. The plane took off from Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, and is heading to the Turkish city of Istanbul.
“It has been a priority for us to increase flight capacity in and out of the region, which is why we have contracted with more airlines to make it easier for U.S. citizens to travel,” Miller said.
Around 7,000 people have registered in the State Department register to receive more information on how to leave Lebanese territory, according to details from the ministry. cnn. In this regard, Miller stressed that Washington anticipates that “some will eventually seek to leave Lebanon and others will want to stay.”
The resumption of hostilities in Lebanon is part of the clashes which have been taking place for almost a year after the attack by Hezbollah on Israeli territory following the attacks carried out on October 7, 2023 by the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas) and other Palestinian factions, which led Israel to attack it. trigger a bloody offensive against the Gaza Strip.
