Spain to evacuate citizens from Lebanon, Defence Minister says

Informal meeting of EU defence ministers in Toledo

FILE PHOTO: Spain's Minister of Defence Margarita Robles looks on next to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell (not pictured) at a press conference during the informal EU ministerial meeting on defence in Toledo, Spain August 30, 2023. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes/File Photo

Source: X07669

Spain plans to send two military aircraft to evacuate as many as 350 citizens from Lebanon as early as Thursday, Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said on Wednesday.

"The Spanish airplanes are ready, the staff are ready, as always with the professionalism of the Spanish army," she said in an interview with Antena 3 TV station.

A group of 350 Spanish citizens present in Lebanon have asked to go to Spain, Robles said in the interview.

Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares had said earlier this week around 1,000 Spaniards were in Lebanon.

Israel was hit on Tuesday evening by rockets launched from Iran following a ground incursion of the Israeli armed forces into south Lebanon where they clashed with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

The operation followed intense air strikes that have devastated Hezbollah's leadership, including longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah who was killed in Beirut last week.

Beside the 1,000 Spanish residents in Lebanon, Spain has commanded the United Nations' Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and deployed 650 troops along the southern Lebanese border with Israel, since 2022.

This article was produced by Reuters news agency. It has not been edited by Global South World.

By Reuters