Around 400 Dutch people registered for first evacuation flight from Lebanon

According to Minster Caspar Veldkamp (Foreign Affairs), “around 400” people have registered to be repatriated from Lebanon. Of that group, “over 200” people meet the conditions to be allowed onto the Defense aircraft, the Minister said.

Defense will send a military Airbus A330 to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Friday and again on Saturday to evacuate Dutch citizens. It is part of a NATO aircraft pool consisting of nine of these planes. Six European countries can fly these aircraft.

The plane will return directly to Eindhoven. If the plane is not full, citizens of other countries will be taken along. According to the Ministry, the number of people on the transport aircraft will only be announced shortly before departure.

The plane will take no aid supplies for Lebanon on Friday, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense said on Thursday.

Dutch people can still sign up for evacuation until the end of Friday afternoon, Veldkamp said. More flights are not ruled out. People who now remain in Lebanon but later decide to leave can continue to count on support from the embassy, the Minster said. The embassy will try to get them on a commercial flight or on a military flight from another country.

The Netherlands has urged its citizens to leave Lebanon. Due to attacks by Israel and rising tensions, it is no longer safe there. Israel says it wants to eliminate the militant Lebanese movement Hezbollah. This movement also carries out rocket attacks on Israel.