A load of medicines collected by the Consulate General of Lebanon in Rio de Janeiro, from donations from pharmaceutical companies, are on their way to Lebanese territory, on the plane responsible for the repatriation flights of Brazilians. .
The 6.3 ton load was sent in two stages. The first part was taken on the 15th, while the most recent part was taken on Saturday’s flight (19). Lebanon has been suffering from military invasions and bombings carried out by Israel
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE), the Brazilian government has already sent five loads of medicines, disposable syringes and envelopes for rehydration from public stocks of the Unified Health System (SUS) administered by the Ministry of Health to the Middle Eastern country. Basic food baskets were sent, collected by the Lebanese Embassy in Brasília, through the United for Lebanon Association (UpL), and by the Consulate General of Lebanon in Rio de Janeiro.
To date, Operation Raízes do Cedro has repatriated 1,317 passengers, including 242 children, 40 babies, 138 elderly people, 12 pregnant women, 101 people with some health complication and 12 people with disabilities, in addition to 15 domestic animals.
The most recent flight, carried out by the KC-30 aircraft, from the Corsair Squadron of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), landed last Saturday morning at Guarulhos International Airport, in São Paulo, bringing more than 200 passengers and a cat.
This was the sixth repatriation flight and a seventh flight is currently underway. Around 3 thousand Brazilians living in Lebanon have registered to request repatriation.
According to the agreement between the MRE and the Lebanese government, women, children, elderly people and Brazilians who are not residents of Lebanon are given priority on the boarding lists. Since October 4, the start of the rescue operation, FAB has been making almost daily flights between Brazil and Lebanon, with a stopover for refueling in Lisbon, Portugal, both on the way out and on the way back.
Invasion
Since the end of September, the Israeli armed forces, which are fighting in the Gaza Strip with tens of thousands of civilians killed, have shifted their actions to Lebanon, which is on the country’s northern border, through land invasions and aerial bombardments.
Israel claims that it intends to neutralize the Hezbollah movement to allow around 60,000 Israeli citizens from communities in the north of the country to return to their homes, after being expelled by rocket fire in their areas.
To date, around 1,400 people have been killed in Lebanon, most of them civilians, according to a count by the AFP news agency based on official data.