Germany announces evacuations from Lebanon

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BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany has evacuated non-essential staff, families of embassy workers and German nationals who are medically vulnerable out of Lebanon and will support others trying to leave, a joint statement by the foreign and defence ministries said on Monday.

The German foreign ministry raised its crisis level for missions in Beirut, Ramallah and Tel Aviv again at the weekend, though the embassies there remain operational.

There are currently 1,800 registered German citizens in Lebanon, a spokesperson for the German foreign ministry said on Monday.

A source told Reuters that 110 people would be evacuated on Monday in a flight taking off from Beirut.

“The embassy continues to support the remaining Germans in Lebanon in their efforts to leave the country via commercial flights and other means. The Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defense continue to coordinate very closely on this,” the statement said.

Israel has hit Lebanon with a two-week wave of attacks, eliminating Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and several commanders but also killing around 1,000 Lebanese and forcing 1 million to flee their homes. Hezbollah has pledged to confront any Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon.

(Writing by Matthias Williams and Maria Martinez, Editing by Rachel More and Toby Chopra)