Belgian military evacuates 100 Europeans from Lebanon

BEIRUT (AFP): More than 100 Europeans were evacuated from Lebanon on a Belgian military plane on Thursday evening, most of them from Belgium, the Netherlands, and France, the government in Brussels said.

The aircraft, which landed at Melsbroek military base near the Belgian capital, was carrying “58 Belgians and dependents, 41 Dutch citizens, 11 from France, and one from Luxembourg,” a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP on Friday.

Over the past week, nearly 150 of the 1,800 Belgians living in Lebanon have received assistance to return to Belgium, he said. A first group left last week on two flights arranged by the Netherlands. It included two Belgian journalists who were attacked and injured in Beirut while covering an Israeli bombardment of the city on the night of October 2 to 3.

“All the Belgians who wanted to leave have been able to do so. We are continuing to assess the situation,” the spokesman said.

Israeli ground forces invaded Lebanon on September 30, saying they aimed to stop cross-border fire from Hezbollah in support of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which attacked Israel on October 7, sparking a devastating ongoing war in Gaza.