A Royal Australian Air Force flight has landed on Cyprus as part of the Australian government’s contingency plan to evacuate citizens from Lebanon amid the current war with Israel.
The C-130 Hercules aircraft landed on the island a few hours ago after travelling from Glasgow in Scotland.
The Hercules is designed for troop and medivac transport, and can land on unprepared runways.
At this stage, the advice for Australians in Lebanon has been to get out on commercial flights that are available, and a crisis centre has been set up in Canberra by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
This contingency plan comes after tensions flared in the Middle East this week when Israel approved a ground invasion of Lebanon. In response, Iran launched approximately 200 missiles targeting Israel, marking a significant escalation following the deaths of key leaders from Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
