Lebanese turn to yachts in desperate bid to escape Israeli bombardment

Airlines have stopped flying from Lebanon, leaving people vying for alternative routes out of the country

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As Israeli missiles rained down on the country for a seventh consecutive day on Sunday, well-heeled Lebanese gathered at a marina in the city of Dbayeh, north of Beirut, waiting for the yachts they had chartered to Cyprus.

With flights scarce and the Mediterranean island less than 200km away, wealthy Lebanese people have been urgently securing one of the few remaining routes out of the country. Only one airline is still operating out of Lebanon, with a route to Cyprus; however, the next available flight is 11 days away. Flights to Turkey, a more popular destination since a visa is not required for Lebanese citizens, are unavailable for at least 15 days.

Samar Mahfouz, waiting at the marina with her husband and two children, said they cannot wait that long.

“We were already planning on leaving,” the Beirut resident told The National. “We were living day by day, waiting to see what would happen next. But when that big one hit and when I saw my kids tremble the way they did and panic, that was it.”

The "big one” was Friday’s aerial raid on a residential block in the Beirut suburb of Dahieh, in which the leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah, was assassinated. The sounds of the missiles pounding the complex thundered throughout Beirut and its surroundings. Israel this month escalated its military campaign against Hezbollah following almost a year of cross-border fighting, carrying out an aerial onslaught in recent days that has killed more than 1,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.

Hezbollah has engaged Israel in fighting for almost a year in an attempt to pressure it into a ceasefire in Gaza with ally Hamas. For Israel, the threat to its border posed by the group over the past year was one it could not tolerate. Meanwhile, Israel’s ground assault and continuing military occupation of Gaza, which has killed more than 41,500 people – the vast majority of who are civilians – runs counter to Hezbollah’s ideology.

Nasrallah’s death has spread shock and fear throughout Lebanon. The leader was both beloved and reviled but his significant impact on the country’s political evolution has been a constant for more than three decades. With Nasrallah gone, Hezbollah’s command is in disarray, and with Israel threatening a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, many people are terrified of what might come next.

Travel agent Mohamad Barakat said pressure on his company to provide flights out has been “especially insane, particularly in the last 72 hours” following Nasrallah’s assassination.

Government estimates place the number of displaced people at nearly one million. Schools have been converted into government-sponsored displacement shelters but have quickly reached maximum capacity nationwide, leaving thousands of displaced people sleeping in the streets. Those with the means have rented homes in areas deemed “safe”, while others have found empty properties to occupy.

Some have chosen to leave Lebanon entirely, taking the land route across the border into neighbouring Syria. However, reaching the crossing requires driving through the Bekaa Valley, which is also subjected to daily Israeli bombardment.

Like Ms Mahfouz and her family, those who can afford to charter yachts have done so. Cyprus and Turkey are only an hour away by plane and about five hours by boat.

“There are no ferries in Lebanon,” said Elias Khawand, who founded Admiral Yachting, a charter and rental company. This has left yachts as one of the few legal options available to escape.

Mr Khawand said yachts were departing the marina every hour, each with a maximum of about 10 people on board due to safety requirements. “Between 75 and 100 people have been leaving the marina each day,” he added. “For the last two weeks, the phone calls don't stop. We’re operating 24 hours per day. People are afraid, and flights are cancelled.”

He has been promoting his company in the absence of the flights and said he is providing a humanitarian service.

The rides to Cyprus cost between $1,500 and $2,000 a person – about the same as a round-trip economy flight from Lebanon to the US.

Those boarding said they know the price is too expensive for many Lebanese, especially with the country yet to recover from an economic crisis the World Bank has described as among the worst in the modern world.

Many displaced Lebanese previously able to finance such a trip are now nevertheless living in government shelters and schools. The cash and gold held by many people – who lost faith in the commercial banking system when it collapsed in 2019 – remain buried under the rubble of their homes.

Julia, 16, was not looking forward to her first yachting experience. The high-school student from Beirut said she did not want to leave Lebanon. She and her family lived in the predominantly Shiite area of Badaro, right next to Tayouneh, which has been struck several times. Fearful that Israel's strikes could move farther into Beirut, her parents decided leaving would be best for the family. They plan to wait out the war from their home in Vienna.

While a yacht trip followed by a European holiday would often be a dream for many teenage girls, Julia said she hated abandoning her country in a time of crisis. “When the war ends, we're coming back. Definitely. Our whole life is here,” she said.

The day after Julia and her family set sail, Israel struck a residential building within the capital's city limits for the first time since the war began.