More than 1200 Australians, permanent residents and immediate family members have been evacuated from Lebanon as the federal government continues to urge people to leave.
Six Australian government flights have ferried people to safety, while a further 3892 Australians and their families are registered to depart, with vulnerable and displaced passengers prioritised.
Two flights are scheduled to leave Beirut on Tuesday, with a Qantas flight from Cyprus expected to bring up to 220 people back to Australia.
Jubilant scenes erupted at Sydney Airport on Monday, when a repatriation flight carrying 349 Australians and their families landed.
As he embraced his children, elated father Ahmad Hamid thanked the Australian government for helping them get home safely.
He spent more than a week on the phone every night trying to organise a way out, saying he couldn’t sleep with his three kids there.
“We got our kids back from Lebanon, from the war. Thank you very much,” he said.
In two weeks, Israel’s bombing campaign has killed more than 1400 Lebanese people and left another 1.2 million without homes.
This new front in Israel’s war opened after a year of violence in Gaza.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas led an attack on Israel, killing 1200 and taking about 250 hostage, according to the Israeli government.
In response, Israel bombed and invaded Gaza while laying siege to its population, killing more than 41,000 people and leaving most of the territory’s residents displaced and facing starvation.
The first anniversary of the attacks was marked across Australia with vigils held by the Jewish community to remember those killed, the families grieving and the hostages who remain captive.
Community leaders warned of an unprecedented rise of anti-Semitism in Australia since the October 7 attack and called for the federal government to do more to stem the tide of abuse.
The call comes as a second man was charged by NSW Police for allegedly displaying a Nazi poster at a Hyde Park rally on Sunday.
The 56-year-old will appear before court in November.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke is also reviewing the visa of a US guest speaker who reportedly called October 7 a day of celebration at a rally at Lakemba Mosque.
He tasked his department to prepare a brief about the man’s visa status once he found out about the comments.
“They confirmed this man was travelling on a visa. I immediately asked them to prepare a brief so I can consider his visa status,” Mr Burke said.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham branded the remarks “truly sickening” for suggesting there was any cause to celebrate the Hamas attack.
“They’re appalling, and the fact that they are made by somebody visiting Australia on a visa means the government absolutely should urgently review that visa,” he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended a vigil to mark the one-year anniversary of the designated terrorist organisation’s attack.
Pro-Palestine protesters called for an end to Israel’s invasion in major demonstrations across the nation.
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