Lebanon Escape...Transport of its citizens by German and Spanish military aircraft

As Israel deploys ground troops, Lebanon's all-out war crisis escalates, countries are using military aircraft or chartered planes to escape their citizens.

Spain's defence ministry said the first military plane sent to evacuate Spaniards in Lebanon took off from Beirut safely.

Spain's Ministry of Defense explained that there are currently about 1,000 Spaniards living in Lebanon, and that it will first use two military planes to evacuate between 400 and 500 people.

The German government also flew military aircraft twice this week to transport more than 240 Germans, including non-essential diplomatic personnel, to Berlin and Frankfurt.

The Spanish and German governments said they planned to send additional military aircraft depending on future conditions.

Earlier, the British government had also arranged a charter flight to evacuate some British nationals living in Lebanon, and deployed an additional 700 troops to British bases in Cyprus, close to Lebanon, to support evacuation operations.