Spain evacuates citizens from Lebanon amid conflict

Two aircraft from the Air Force and Space Force, an A330 and an A400, arrived at the Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base in Madrid, with more than 240 Spanish citizens who had asked to leave Lebanon due to the military escalation in the country due to the clashes between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite party-militia Hezbollah.

According to the Ministry of Defense, the first aircraft to arrive in Madrid was an A330 that had left Beirut with 204 people on board bound for Spain and that arrived at the Torrejón Base at around six in the afternoon. The second plane, an A400 that had taken off from Zaragoza, arrived in Spain. with forty people, according to sources from the Foreign Office, who added that with this second flight, the Department headed by José Manuel Albares.

Among the evacuees are Spanish citizens, some Lebanese relatives, part of the staff of the Spanish Embassy  and some citizens of other countries (from Argentina, the USA, Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Venezuela), according to diplomatic sources. Around a thousand Spaniards live in Lebanon, some with dual nationality or even Lebanese relatives.

Also People from Lebanon arrived in Turkey after fleeing Israeli airstrikes as regional conflict in the Middle East threatened to intensify.

Individuals and families could be seen queuing outside the passport control office at a port in Turkey after disembarking a ferry before leaving the area with their luggage in tow.

Israel's military said it killed 15 Hezbollah militants in south Lebanon and bombed Beirut after its forces suffered their deadliest day on the Lebanese front in a year of clashes with the group.

Western nations have drafted contingency plans to evacuate citizens from Lebanon after dramatic escalation, but none have launched a large-scale military evacuation yet, though some are chartering aircrafts as Beirut airport stays open.