A total of 1,550 people, primarily from third countries, had left Lebanon via Cyprus by Tuesday since the start of assisted departures on September 27, foreign ministry spokesperson Theodoros Gotsis said.

Australia started evacuating its nationals from Lebanon via Cyprus on Saturday, in the first large-scale operation to get citizens out of the country amid an Israeli onslaught on Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Burns told Sky News that “there are not mechanisms by which the federal government could intervene here”. Burns said: What happens on our streets is a matter for the states, a

The deputy prime minister has urged Australians to come home from Lebanon as soon as possible, with two more flights set to evacuate citizens to Cyprus.

The evacuation is the first large-scale operation to get citizens out of the country amid the Israeli onslaught on Hezbollah.