Three British sisters have spoken of their sadness at being forced to flee their home in Lebanon, saying they had “no choice” but to board a flight to the UK.
Amal Zahereddine, 18, and her sisters Yasmine, 17, and Layla, 22, were among British nationals preparing to leave on a UK government charter flight from Beirut to Birmingham.
“Right now there is no way we can stay. The noises, the situation, is just getting very traumatising so we have no choice,” Amal said.
Israel has stepped up its aerial assault of Beirut in the past week, targeting densely populated areas in the city’s south that it said was home to Hezbollah leaders and military equipment.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has told British nationals in Lebanon they “must leave now” as fighting continues.
Speaking to the BBC from the airport in Beirut, university student Amal said she loved Lebanon and was “very upset” at having to leave.
“We’re just going to stay hopeful that it’s not going to be for long and we’re going to come back to our precious country.”
Amal, who was born in Surrey and has lived in Lebanon for five years, said she and her sisters planned to reunite with family in West Sussex.
Her sister Yasmine, who is still in school, said she would have never imagined leaving, but the situation required it.
Another British citizen, Libby, 25, boarded a commercial flight from Beirut to Cairo on Wednesday morning, and described the situation in the Lebanese capital as “terrifying”.
“You can’t sleep because you can hear the Israeli drones over your head, you wake up in the night because you hear strikes,” she told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
As of last week, there were thought to be between 4,000 and 6,000 UK nationals, including dependants, in Lebanon.
The chartered flight leaving Beirut on Wednesday will only be able to take a fraction of them, raising questions about whether additional flights will be needed.
Defence Secretary John Healey was in Cyprus on Wednesday to meet some of the British personnel preparing for the possibility of evacuating UK nationals out of Lebanon.
Britons in Lebanon have been advised to register their presence with officials on the government’s website.
Healey’s visit to Cyprus came just hours after Iran carried out a missile attack against Israel on Tuesday night.
The defence secretary said British forces had “played their part in attempts to prevent further escalation”.
He gave no further details but the BBC understands British military jets did not shoot down any Iranian ballistic missiles nor did the Royal Navy Destroyer, HMS Duncan, fire any Sea Viper missiles.
Iran said the attack was, in part, retaliation for the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of its proxy, Hezbollah, in a strike on Beirut last week.