Desperate Brits looking to flee Lebanon have been chartering superyachts in the scramble to escape the worsening conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Karl Debs, a yacht broker and captain, has been evacuating people through his company, Goldeneye Superyachts, as people seeking alternative routes of escape as commercial flights are quickly booked up.
He explained seven private yachts are departing daily from the Dbaye region, around half an hour from Beirut, each carrying around 12 passengers to Cyprus.
Mr Debs told the Standard so far roughly 450 people have taken the seven-hour journey from Beirut to Cyprus on his company’s yachts, including a small number of Britons.
People are paying between £1,500 to £2,500 to travel on the yachts, which are up to 75 feet long, he added.
The captain also described how smoke from Beriut can be seen from the marina they are based at in Dbaye when there are heavy explosions.
It comes as hundreds more Britons are to be flown out of Beirut on more flights chartered by the Government, foreign secretary David Lammy announced.
The additional evacuation flights will depart from Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport from Thursday. The flights will continue for as long as the security situation allows, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said.
Around 700 troops and Foreign Office and Home Office staff, including Border Force officers, have been deployed to Cyprus for contingency planning.
British nationals were airlifted out of Lebanon on a first evacuation flight on Wednesday hours before Israeli strikes hit central Beirut early on Thursday, killing at least nine people and injuring 14.
Israel’s military said it conducted a precise air strike on Lebanon’s capital as witnesses reported hearing a massive blast in the central district of Bachoura closer to the parliament.
Three missiles also hit the southern suburb of Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed last week, and loud blasts were heard, Lebanese security officials said.
More British nationals were expected to be airlifted out of Lebanon on Thursday while hundreds have fled on commercial flights and hired boats.
A first plane chartered by the UK Government carrying Britons from Lebanon landed in Birmingham on Wednesday evening with another flight set to depart Beirut on Thursday afternoon.
The Foreign Office has said that any further flights in the coming days will depend on demand and the security situation on the ground.
Vulnerable British nationals and their spouse or partner, and children under the age of 18, will be prioritised.
In a post to X, Foreign Secretary David Lammy reiterated calls for British citizens in Lebanon to leave while commercial flights are still available.
The latest Israeli strike on Beirut - and the closest to the centre of the capital - saw at least six people killed and seven wounded, Lebanese health officials said.
Three missiles also hit the southern suburb of Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed last week.
The Israel Defense Forces urged residents of Lebanese villages who have evacuated their homes not to return until further notice. “IDF raids are continuing,” spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X on Thursday.
Meanwhile Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militant group said it launched drone strikes on Tel Aviv.
“The operation achieved its goals successfully by the arrival of the drones without being detected or shot down by the enemy,” said Yahya Saree, the group’s military spokesperson.
A day after Iran fired more than 180 missiles into Israel, Israel on Wednesday suffered its deadliest day on the Lebanese front in a year of clashes with Iran-backed Hezbollah.
It said eight soldiers were killed in ground combat in south Lebanon as its forces thrust into its northern neighbour.
The Israeli military said regular infantry and armoured units joined ground operations in Lebanon on Wednesday as Iran’s missile attack and Israel’s promise of retaliation fanned concern of a wider conflict in the Middle East.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We are at the height of a difficult war against Iran’s Axis of Evil, which wants to destroy us.
“This will not happen because we will stand together and with God’s help, we will win together.”
With thousands of Britons still trapped in Lebanon, UK Defence Secretary John Healey met military personnel preparing for a potential evacuation as he thanked RAF personnel involved in the operation to defend Israel from Iranian missiles.
Two Typhoon fighter jets, supported by a tanker aircraft, were involved in the operation although the Ministry of Defence said because of the nature of the attack “they did not engage any targets”.
Mr Healey told Sky News in Cyprus: “They were part of the wider effort to prevent further escalation and to show the UK’s steadfast support for Israel’s right to self defence and to security.
“They did not engage, but they were ready to do so, and nevertheless, they were playing a part in the wider efforts to deter the further conflict, and they will continue to do so.”
The Israeli military has warned people to evacuate about 50 villages and towns across southern Lebanon as its activities continue.
Israel has also promised to retaliate for the Iranian missile attack, something which could trigger a wider war in the region.
Mr Healey said he had spoken to his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Galant, to assure him the UK offered “steadfast” support but to say that “our big concern is to avoid this conflict spiralling into a wider regional war”.
