Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
A Belgian military flight will be organized tomorrow, Wednesday, to return Belgian and European citizens from Lebanon, where Israel is launching an attack against Hezbollah. This came in a statement by Foreign Minister Hajja Lahbib. The Belgian news agency reported, according to the websites of local newspapers, which added, "The plane leaves for Beirut with medical equipment for Lebanese hospitals. This is done in the context of B-Fast, the emergency government aid structure. Belgium announced last week that it was responding to Lebanon's request for medical equipment worth 150,000 euros: gloves, needles, compresses, bandages, thermometers, ...

Upon returning to Belgium, the plane has 250 seats for people who have expressed their desire to leave Lebanon.

The minister's office said that the number of Belgians who have expressed their desire to leave the country has increased in recent hours. Last Wednesday there were about a hundred people, but this number has increased rapidly. On Thursday, the minister spoke in parliament about doubling the number of candidates. Yesterday, Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted all the people scheduled to be transferred to inform them of Wednesday's flight.

So far, Belgium is still relying on places on commercial flights or private flights from other European countries to return Belgians who want to leave Lebanon. Last Friday, the first group of five Belgians returned on Dutch military flights. On Saturday, another 30 citizens were repatriated on another Dutch military flight. The Belgian Defense Ministry announced last week that it was ready for the repatriation, but said it was waiting for a signal from the government. According to recent estimates, there are about 1,800 Belgians in Lebanon, although the Foreign Ministry has been advising them to leave the country for several months.