Twenty-two Greeks were evacuated from the capital of Lebanon, Beirut, as well as 38 Cypriot nationals, after a C-130 military aircraft of the Hellenic Air Force took off from Greece and completed the mission.
Greek Minister of Defense Nikos Dendias posted on social platform X (formerly Twitter) that he was briefed in real time about the ongoing operation by the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS) leader, Lieutenant General Dimitris Houpis.
“I was informed in real by the Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff, General Dimitrios Houpis, about the successful outcome of the rescue operation in Beirut, which evacuated 38 citizens of the Republic of Cyprus and 22 citizens of the Hellenic Republic, as well as the entry of the C-130 aircraft of the Hellenic Air Force into the Nicosia FIR. Congratulations to all those who contributed to the operation,” stated the Minister of National Defense, Nikos Dendias, in a post.
The Minister of National Defense, Nikos Dendias, announced two days ago on platform X that he had a phone conversation with his Cypriot counterpart, Vasilis Palmas, and that the Hellenic Air Force would provide a C-130 transport aircraft for the evacuation of Cypriot nationals from Lebanon.
Two C-130 aircraft are on standby for the evacuation of Greeks from Lebanon, as decided during a meeting at the Ministry of National Defense ahead of the Government Council for National Security (KYSEA) session in the afternoon at the Maximos Mansion, chaired by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The rapid escalation of hostilities in the Middle East followed multiple strikes by Iran against Israel, a retaliation for the assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and the deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon, Abbas Nilforushan, as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards stated.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Israel would strike back hard against Iran during statements on Tuesday night following the launch of hundreds of ballistic missiles.
