THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
October 3, 2024 at 18:22 JST
A C-2 transport aircraft lands at Miho Air Base in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, on May 8, 2023. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Two Air Self-Defense Force C-2 transport aircraft departed from Miho Air Base in Tottori Prefecture on the morning of Oct. 3 to evacuate Japanese nationals from Lebanon, which Israel has invaded.
One of the planes left for Greece and the other for Jordan, where they will wait and prepare to transport evacuees.
Approximately 50 Japanese citizens are currently in Lebanon.
According to the Joint Staff of the Defense Ministry, the two planes will refuel en route to Greece and Jordan.
Senior SDF officials said the aircraft will arrive in each country on Oct. 4 at the earliest.
“We don’t have any information on injuries to Japanese nationals in Lebanon so far," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a news conference on the morning of Oct. 3. "But we will stay vigilant and prepare for every possible circumstance.”
The Japanese government transported Japanese nationals and related individuals from Sudan, in northeastern Africa, to Djibouti, using SDF aircraft in April last year when the civil war in Sudan intensified.
It also evacuated Japanese nationals from Israel to Japan in October and November of last year, when the military conflict between Israel and the Islamic organization Hamas intensified.
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