Türkiye moves to evacuate nationals from Lebanon

ANKARA

Türkiye on Wednesday sent ships to evacuate around 2,000 of its citizens from Lebanon, with its Beirut envoy saying it would be "the biggest" evacuation of its type from the war-torn country.

Two naval ships carrying the evacuated nationals and their families would arrive at the southern Turkish port of Mersin "in the early hours" of Thursday morning, Turkish Ambassador to Beirut Ali Barış Ulusoy told reporters.

The two ships set sail overnight for the Lebanese capital whose southern suburbs were hit overnight by fresh Israeli bombardments.

"These ships, with a capacity of around 2,000 people, will be ready to take those of our citizens who requested it from Lebanon to Mersin port," Ulusoy said.

Türkiye, which is estimated to have 14,000 citizens registered with its consulate in Lebanon, announced the move on Tuesday because of the deteriorating security situation on the ground in Lebanon.

Images showed a crowd of people at Beirut port waiting to board the boats.

The ambassador said the two ships were also bringing "approximately 300 tonnes of humanitarian aid" to show Türkiye's support for the Lebanese people, including tents, bedding, hygiene kits and kitchenware.

Since Sept. 23, Israel has intensified strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon, killing more than 1,100 people and forcing more than a million to flee, the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Monday.