The government on Wednesday said it was at its highest level of preparedness for evacuations from the region, as Britain announced 700 troops were being deployed to Cyprus to help UK nationals leave Lebanon.
Foreign minister spokesperson Theodoros Gotsis told the Cyprus Mail the government’s readiness to deal with evacuations is at its highest level, though there have been no requests so far.
President Nikos Christodoulides who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, also changed his schedule to meet with Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
Sources close to the matter said Mikati was not going to attend the General Assembly however “due to crucial developments” decided to carry out a series of contacts.
He requested a meeting with Christodoulides and they are slated to meet at 7pm Cyprus time.
In a statement late on Tuesday, the British government said 700 troops would travel to Cyprus, bolstering its presence in the area where it already has two Royal Navy ships, aircraft and transport helicopters.
“Events in the past hours and days have demonstrated how volatile this situation is, which is why our message is clear, British nationals should leave now,” said Defence Secretary John Healey.
The death toll in the region continues to climb amid an onslaught of violence between Israel and Hezbollah, and Israel with Gaza.
UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned that the escalation in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah was pushing the region towards the brink.
Fierce fighting this week between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah has increased fears that nearly a year of conflict will explode and destabilise the Middle East, where a war between Hamas and Israel is already raging in Gaza.
Starmer said he was very concerned that the region was spiralling out of control.
Gotsis underlined this situation is different from the 2006 war in Lebanon, which caught everyone by surprise.
There are still flights from Beirut which individuals can use to leave Lebanon. Evacuations will be activated should any other corridors no longer be available, Gotsis underlined.
It is understood that many of those who would have left the region have long left as the situation has been unstable for a year now, though it has escalated in Lebanon in the past few weeks.
Cyprus in August announced its Estia scheme which deals with evacuations was activated. Authorities have since been ready to aid with any evacuations from the Middle East and assist with repatriating foreign nationals through Cyprus.
Last month, sources confirmed to the Cyprus Mail that over 100 British medical personnel were deployed to the British bases in Cyprus as the UK prepares for possible evacuations from Lebanon.
Senior NHS staff had been seconded to the Akrotiri bases as the UK was on high alert over the situation in the Middle East.
