The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, the Minister of Defense, José Múcio, and the Commander of the Air Force, Marcelo Kanitz Damasceno, held a press conference this Thursday afternoon (3) to detail the operation that should bring the first Brazilians from Lebanon to Brazil.
The first rescue flight leaves this Friday (4) from Lisbon, Portugal, to the Lebanese capital. The Brazilian Air Force plane, a KC-30, is expected to arrive in Beirut at around 10 am Brasília time, 4 pm local time, and then return to the Portuguese capital. From Lisbon, he will head to São Paulo, where disembarkation is scheduled for 8am on Saturday (5).
Itamaraty estimates the number of passengers in this first repatriation at 220. The Brazilian government’s objective is to repatriate around 500 people per week. Elderly people, women, children and people with medical needs will have priority boarding.
Alternatives
“We are repeating what we did from October last year until the beginning of this year with regard to Brazilians who were in Palestine, the Gaza Strip and Israel. The operation was very successful, with around 1,600 citizens repatriated”, recalled Mauro Vieira .
Flight routes may change depending on security conditions. Asked about a possible exit through Syria, through a Russian base, the Defense Minister said that other alternatives are being examined.
In total, around 20 thousand Brazilians reside in Lebanon. The country has become the target of Israeli attacks in recent days. Israel fights Hezbollah members on Lebanese territory.
To date, only aircraft from four countries have landed in Lebanon for repatriation. It is estimated that Brazil will be the seventh country to have a rescue aircraft with authorized landing.
