Middle East: Evacuation plans in place for up to 500 Aussies to flee Lebanon

The Australian Government is preparing to evacuate up to 500 Australians wanting to flee Lebanon via Cyprus amid the rapidly escalating conflict, as Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong urged people to take “whatever flight is available”.

The news comes as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused the Albanese Government of failing to offer the moral support Israel needs and of pursuing a policy of appeasement because of repeated calls by senior ministers for a ceasefire and diplomatic resolution to the conflict

Senator Wong said there were some 1700 Australians and their immediate families registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade who’ve indicated they wish to depart Lebanon, but of the 80 seats so far secured only 35 had been taken.

Warning that the situation could deteriorate quickly and the Beirut airport could change at a moment’s notice, she urged people not to delay and take whatever commercial options were available.

“We have secured an additional 500 seats for Australians, permanent residents and their immediate family members on two flights to Cyprus which will be leaving on Saturday,” she said.

She then confirmed an RAAF aircraft had been moved to Cyprus to prepare for “contingency arrangements”, but the 500 new seats being made available were on a commercial plane.

“Please take whatever option is available to you... My message to Australians in Lebanon is do not wait,” Senator Wong said.

“If you are able to secure a seat on a flight, please take that seat.

“Now is not the time for you to wait and see.”

Senator Wong also called for all parties to “show restraint and de-escalate the situation”, after Iran’s “dangerous” missile attacks earlier this week.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles had earlier backed Israel’s right to defend itself, but said now is “the moment for diplomacy”.

Israel has vowed to respond to Tuesday’s attack, with the US vowing to support the Jewish state, prompting fears the region is on the brink of an all-out war.

Mr Dutton said the Albanese Government was at odds with the United States and United Kingdom by including caveats and falling short of explicitly backing retaliatory action.

“(Israel) is a democracy. They are an important ally of ours, and they are under threat and attack this very moment,” he said.

“And for the Defence minister and the deputy prime minister of our country to be talking about some sort of an appeasement model is not going to work and frankly, it diminishes our relationship not only with Israel, but it also says to our other allies that an Albanese-Marles government will only support our allies if it’s in their domestic political interests.”

He said while Israel did not need Australia’s support in terms of Defence supplies, there were other ways to show backing.

“The best thing that we can do at the moment is to provide Israel with that moral support because they’re at threat from an attack from people who don’t share our values,” he said.

Mr Marles said Australia was “not about to deny a country’s right to defend itself”, but did not want to see actions which “give rise to an escalatory cycle”.

“Clearly the world does not want to see an escalation to what has happened here. That is exactly why we condemn Iran’s missile attack in the strongest possible terms,” he told ABC Radio.

“We don’t deny countries’ rights to defend themselves, but this is the moment for diplomacy and we need to see every effort being made to try and bring about an end to the hostilities in the Middle East because of the extraordinary loss of civilian life that we’ve seen as a result of it.”

He reiterated calls for a 21-day ceasefire, which was demanded by Australia along with the US, UK, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Asked about Mr Marles’ calls for a ceasefire, Mr Dutton said he was “diminishing himself by being at odds” with the US, the UK and Canada.

He said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Government were “damaging our relationship with our key allies”.

“We’ve seen many (world) leaders who have shown absolute clarity, where the Prime Minister has nothing. Penny Wong out there calling for restraint, the Prime Minister’s calling for Israel to step back... Israel is facing an existential threat of extinction,” Mr Dutton said.