US organises flight out of Lebanon for American citizens

There have been growing calls from US politicians to help citizens get out

A plane takes off from Beirut-Rafic Al Hariri International Airport. Reuters

The US organised a flight out of Beirut for hundreds of American citizens and their relatives on Wednesday, the State Department said.

“There was a flight that left a couple of hours ago from Beirut that had a capacity of 300 and had a little over 100 Americans and their family members who departed on it,” department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

The flight, which was from Beirut to Istanbul, comes as Israel continues to expand its ground invasion of Lebanon. About 7,000 US citizens in Lebanon have registered with the State Department to inquire about leaving the country since Israel's recent attacks, including one that killed long-time Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

“Some of those, I presume, will eventually look to depart Lebanon, and some of them will want to stay – you know, their plans may change over time, their interests may change over time,” Mr Miller said.

On Tuesday, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer wrote to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking his department to “do more” to help Americans in Lebanon to escape the violence, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Michigan is home to the second largest Arab population in the US. Many in the community are of Lebanese descent.

“It is imperative that we all work together to bring Michiganders to safety and back with their families immediately,” Ms Whitmer said, after the killing in southern Lebanon of a US permanent resident.

Other politicians are also demanding the US do more to help Americans leave Lebanon.

“As Israel bombards Lebanon, countless American citizens are trapped with their lives endangered. Commercial flights are next to non-existent,” Congressman Jamal Bowen wrote on X. “The State Department must recognise this and immediately begin evacuating US citizens.”

Several airlines have cancelled flights to and from Beirut as the situation continues to deteriorate, and western countries are looking for ways to evacuate their citizens.

During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war, the US government helped to evacuate more than 15,000 people from Lebanon.