The UK Foreign Secretary has warned British citizens in Lebanon that they may not be able to leave quickly if the current situation deteriorates. David Lammy has told nationals to leave by either commercial flights or a UK-chartered plane scheduled to leave on Wednesday. He also indicated that Beirut airport may close if the fighting continues. However, despite paying for seats on the government-chartered flight, many Britons have apparently received no confirmation or details about their booking for the flight. Hanan Baba, 29, a British national based in Tripoli, spoke to the BBC, saying that she had a “heavy heart” and was “so anxious” that if she did not make the flight, there would be no way back for two weeks. Baba said she had paid the required £350, but she had received “no communication” about the flight’s details or whether she was guaranteed a seat on the plane.
Other UK nationals in Lebanon have described their journey to Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport as “terrifying”. Nineteen-year-old Lara, who was visiting family in Beirut, said that she had risked her life to fly back to the UK. She reports that she “had to convince myself that if I die it’s ok…whenever I hear a bang, or whenever I hear something being dragged across the floor, I think it’s a plane or a missile coming towards me”. She reportedly received “zero communication, no help” from the UK government.
Last week, between 4,000 and 6,000 UK nationals and their dependents were believed to be in Lebanon. As of Tuesday, some had secured places on the government-chartered plane, but others had found commercial flights only at prohibitive cost, or had nowhere to go and remained sheltering in place. A British man, not named, who works for an international humanitarian organization, with a wife and child, evacuated from Beirut to Mount Lebanon due to the conflict. He said he similarly heard about the chartered flight for UK citizens through news reports and had not received any information or offer to purchase a seat from the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO).
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has warned that his country is facing “one of its most dangerous phases,” with around one million people displaced. Fighting reportedly escalated on 8 October 2023, as Hezbollah in solidarity with the Palestinians fired at Israeli positions, leading to a fresh wave of Israeli airstrikes
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