Israel-Hezbollah conflict: Which countries are evacuating nationals out of Lebanon?

Israel launched a ground invasion in Lebanon on Tuesday, followed by continued reinforcement of its military presence on Wednesday, escalating its conflict with Hezbollah. This comes after a week of air strikes that have already claimed hundreds of lives.

In the wake of the incursion in Lebanon and airspaces shut in several parts of the Middle East, several countries have begun evacuating their nationals from Lebanon or are planning to do so.

More than 200 Chinese citizens have been safely evacuated from Lebanon by the government, China's official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

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Spain plans to send two military aircraft to evacuate as many as 350 citizens from Lebanon as early as Thursday.

"The Spanish airplanes are ready, the staff are ready, as always with the professionalism of the Spanish army," Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said in an interview with Antena 3 TV station. Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares had said earlier this week around 1,000 Spaniards were in Lebanon.

Cyprus is a likely hub for EU countries attempting to evacuate citizens, having processed around 60,000 people fleeing the Hezbollah-Israel war in 2006. Neighbouring Turkey has offered to facilitate evacuation.

Operations-wise, most contingency planning seems to be by sea, enabling movement of larger groups, but that will be defined by the security situation, a source familiar with the process told Reuters. It takes about 10 hours to Cyprus by sea, or 40 minutes by plane from Beirut.

Here's what countries are doing to get nationals out of Lebanon:

Australia

It has organised hundreds of airline seats for its citizens to leave Lebanon, and has flown military aircraft to Cyprus as part of a contingency plan. Its contingency plans could include evacuation by sea, though authorities have urged an estimated 15,000 citizens in Lebanon to leave while Beirut airport remains open.

United Kingdom

Britain will charter more flights to help citizens and dependents leave Lebanon, the foreign office said as Israel continued to strike Beirut overnight. More than 150 British nationals and their dependents were evacuated from the Lebanese capital on a UK government chartered flight that arrived in Birmingham, central England, on Wednesday.

The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said it was ready to support "hundreds" more to leave Lebanon in the coming days. As of last week, there were around 5,000 British nationals, dual nationals and dependents in Lebanon, according to government estimates.

Canada

News reports from Canada suggest it will co-operate with Australia in evacuating nationals by sea. The plan involves contracting a commercial vessel to ferry out 1,000 people a day, the Toronto Star newspaper said.

France

France has not issued an evacuation order, despite having had plans for several months. Present contingency plans centre on Cyprus and Beirut airport, while it is also discussing evacuations via Turkey. France has a warship in the region, while a French helicopter carrier will arrive in the eastern Mediterranean in the coming days and take up position in case a decision is taken to evacuate foreign nationals from Lebanon.

Germany

Germany has evacuated non-essential staff, families of embassy workers and German nationals who are medically vulnerable from Lebanon and will support others trying to leave, the foreign and defence ministries said in a joint statement on Monday.

Greece

The Greek foreign ministry has urged its citizens to leave Lebanon and avoid any travel there, with a frigate on standby in case assistance is needed.

Slovakia

Slovakia is preparing the evacuation of its citizens and other EU nationals from Lebanon, and has also approved using a military plane to deliver humanitarian aid, the Slovak foreign Ministry said.

Italy

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