By The Guardian (World News) | Created at 2024-10-07 19:40:13 | Updated at 2024-10-07 21:24:13
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Flight lands in Sydney from Beirut
A government-assisted flight touched down in Sydney last night with hundreds of Australians and their families on board fleeing Israel’s growing assault on Lebanon, Australian Associated Press reports.
Dana Hamieh was among the 349 people who arrived in Sydney on the Qatar Airways flight after fleeing the Lebanese capital of Beirut. “We were lucky to get out of there because as we were at the airport they were bombing the surrounding suburbs,” she said.
“It was a very difficult situation to be in. Leaving our homes, our parents’ homeland and our houses and friends and relatives.”
Thousands more are expected to follow, with almost 3,800 Australians and immediate family members registered to depart with the Department of Foreign Affairs. They will travel from Lebanon into Larnaca in Cyprus before returning to Australia on connecting flights.
In two weeks, Israel’s bombing campaign has killed more than 1,400 Lebanese people and left another 1.2 million without homes.
Two more flights were also scheduled to leave Beirut today.
Passengers will be met by Australian Red Cross crew, including psychological first aid provisions, in Sydney and will then be flown on to their nearest airport.
Medical personnel will also be onboard the flight to provide assistance and a second flight will leave tomorrow and arrive back in Australia on Thursday.
The federal government is working to secure further seats on commercial airlines out of Lebanon, but the foreign minister, Penny Wong, noted flights out “are subject to security and operational restrictions”.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog (yes, it’s a sitting week in Canberra). I’m Martin Farrer, bringing you the top overnight stories before Amy Remeikis takes the wheel.
The events of the Middle East continue to dominate the domestic news agenda today. There were jeers for Anthony Albanese in Melbourne and cheers for Peter Dutton in Sydney at events held by the Jewish community to mark the first anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel. A large crowd also gathered outside Sydney Town Hall last night “to honour and mourn and remember” Palestinian and Lebanese lives lost.
The gatherings came as a Qatar Airways flight carrying 349 people fleeing destruction in Beirut arrived back in Australia as part of the government’s efforts to repatriate people from the war-torn nation. More details to follow.
Amid the discussion about protests in Australia and finger-pointing by politicians, we have a powerful story from an Australian health worker in Gaza who gives a blunt assessment of what people back home need to know about the situation in the besieged territory after a year of war. “… it is worse than you can imagine,” Sally Stevenson says. “The destruction is everywhere, as far as the eye can see, it is in the air we breathe. There is no safe place in Gaza. For anyone, especially children.”
Our latest Essential poll, published today, shows Australians appear ready for more radical solutions to the cost-of-living crisis, with price caps on rent, groceries and energy bills topping a list of possible reforms with 70% support. Half those asked were in favour of reducing “tax breaks like negative gearing”. They were also asked about the government’s response to the Israel-Gaza war and 50% said they thought Labor had done well.
And the ETU, the Electrical Trades Union, has launched an advertising plan questioning the Coalition’s plan to build nuclear power plants in Australia. More on that in a few minutes.
