Pressure on Australians to ‘get out’ of Lebanon

The Albanese government is pleading with the thousands of Australians still in Lebanon to “get out” any way they can as the first batch of evacuees landed in Sydney overnight.

Teary scenes played out at Sydney airport on Monday night as 349 Australians and their immediate family members were welcomed home, the first of more than 1200 evacuated from Lebanon to Cyprus.

But thousands more remain in mortal danger, as Israel continues ramping up its military action against terrorist group Hezbollah.

Federal minister Clare O’Neil warned on Tuesday that opportunities to leave were not “endless”.

“I was actually tearing up a little bit watching those people come back to the airport and into the loving arms of their families,” Ms O’Neil told the ABC.

“We’re working assiduously to try to assist Australians who are in trouble there and I’ll repeat the government’s message again that for any Australians who are in Lebanon, now is the time to get out.

“There will not be endless opportunities to get government assistance to leave Lebanon and I’d really ask everyone who is there to register with DFAT (the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) and take the first flight that’s offered to you to get home to safety.”

NewsWire understands 3892 Australians have registered with DFAT’s crisis portal.

More than 1200 Australians, permanent residents and their immediate family members have gotten out of the Lebanese capital Beirut with federal government assistance.

More flights are being arranged every day, but with Hezbollah positions close to Beirut’s main airport coming under Israeli fire, flights in and out could stop at any time.

Hezbollah began firing rockets at civilian areas in northern Israel in solidarity with Palestinian terrorist group Hamas following the brutal October 7 attacks last year.

Israel has pledged to continue striking Hezbollah until tens of thousands of Israelis forced from their homes in the north can return safely.

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