This is the emotional moment a husband was reunited with his wife after she managed to flee war-torn Lebanon.
The couple collapsed into each others arms as soon as they spotted each other in the arrivals hall at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 3.
The touching scene was played out as other families greeted loved ones who had flown to the UK on a scheduled flight from Beirut.
More than a dozen people, some clutching bouquets of flowers, had waited patiently for their loved ones to appear after Middle East Airlines flight 201 had landed.
Ali, a barber from London, waited for his wife Hasan who had left her home in the village of Tyre, one of the areas in southern Lebanon under heavy bombardment from Israeli forces.
This is the emotional moment a husband was reunited with his wife at Heathrow Airport after she managed to flee war-torn Lebanon
The touching scene was played out as other families greeted loved ones who had flown to the UK on a scheduled flight from Beirut .
It comes as Israel continues to pound Lebanon with airstrikes. Pictured is a woman holding her cat in front of a destroyed building at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, today
They became oblivious to others in the arrivals hall as Ali hugged and kissed his 32-year-old wife.
Hasan was overcome with emotion and was later greeted by a relative who held her tightly while she sobbed.
Ali, 37, who did not want to reveal his last name said: ‘I am just so relieved she has got here. She has been living in Tyre where there is so much fighting.’
Ali said his wife had a residency status in the UK and would be staying indefinitely.
He said she had been living permanently in Tyre while he had moved to the UK for work.
‘Lebanon is my home and one day we want you to go back’ he said. But now it is too dangerous and I am happy Hasan has got here. ‘
He said she had paid £2,000 for the flight from Beirut.
Another relative, who asked not to be named, said: ‘It has been such a worrying time for all of the family.
‘We are glad she has made it out, but there are so many who cannot leave’
Ali (right), a barber from London, waited for his wife Hasan who had left her home in the village of Tyre, one of the areas in southern Lebanon under heavy bombardment from Israeli forces.
Other emotional families were seen hugging their loved ones as they arrived back to Britain
A teenager who was meeting a cousin said; ‘Everyone has been following on the news what’s been going on.
‘It is frightening and we just want our family to leave and be safe here in London.’
Others returning to the UK included a trio of sister who flew to Britain after admitting they had ‘no choice’ but the flee war-torn Lebanon.
Amal Zahereddine, 18, and her siblings Yasmine, 17, and Layla, 22, left on a UK government charter flight from Beirut to Birmingham.
The first charter flight taking UK nationals out of Lebanon has since taken off, foreign secretary David Lammy today confirmed. Another flight is scheduled for tomorrow with ‘further flights’ planned over the ‘coming days’, Mr Lammy added.
Speaking to the BBC from the airport in Beirut, university student Amal said she loved Lebanon and was ‘very upset’ at having to flee.
‘Right now there is no way we can stay. The noises, the situation, is just getting very traumatising so we have no choice,’ she said.
Amal, who was born in Surrey and has lived in Lebanon for five years, said she and her sisters planned to reunite with family in West Sussex.
Amal Zahereddine, 18, and her siblings Yasmine, 17, and Layla, 22, left on a UK government charter flight from Beirut to Birmingham.
‘We’re just going to stay hopeful that it’s not going to be for long and we’re going to come back to our precious country.’
As of last week, there were thought to be between 4,000 and 6,000 UK nationals, including dependants, in Lebanon.
The first arrivals of Britons fleeing Lebanon come as Israel continues its ground assault and aerial bombardment of the country as the IDF seeks to push back Hezbollah terrorists from its northern border.
Fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed military group has ramped up massively in the past few days.
It follows a devastating series of bombing strikes by the IDF on Beirut in which wiped out a number of top Hezbollah commanders, including its feared leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
The assassination of Nasrallah, who Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu dubbed the ‘arch-terrorist’ responsible for attacks across the Middle East, triggered a missile strike by Iran on Israel on Tuesday evening.
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024
Artillery is fired by the Israeli Army into Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from Jish, northern Israel October 2, 2024
An Israeli Apache helicopter releases flares near the Israeli-Lebanon border
Tehran fired some 180 ballistic missiles at Tel Aviv in a dramatic and unprecedented bombardment that led to major condemnation from the West – and now threatens to catapult the Middle East into ‘all-out war’.
And as the fighting continues to spiral, Britons living in Lebanon have been urged to evacuate the country by whatever means they can.
The UK government chartered a commercial flight out of Lebanon to assist British nationals trying to flee the fighting, the foreign secretary announced earlier this week.
The situation was ‘volatile’ and had the potential to ‘deteriorate quickly’, David Lammy warned, just hours before Israel announced the start of a ‘localised and targeted’ ground operation in southern Lebanon.
British nationals and their spouse or partner, and children under the age of 18 are eligible to take the flight, with vulnerable people a priority.
The plane is scheduled to leave on Wednesday from Beirut, which was hit by fresh Israeli air strikes overnight.
The news comes as the IDF today announced it has sustained its first losses since launching a ground incursion into southern Lebanon after a commando unit was caught in a Hezbollah ambush late this morning.
Israeli officials this afternoon confirmed at least one special forces soldier was killed in a firefight with Hezbollah militants who sprang a surprise assault on the IDF unit as it approached a tunnel entrance near the village of Adaisseh.
At least one soldier was officially confirmed dead, but sources told The Times their unit sustained several casualties with as many as four people thought to have been killed.
The fallen soldier was named as Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22, a member of the Egoz commando unit.
The fallen soldier was named as Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22, a member of the Egoz commando unit
News of the losses came as Israel’s military released video footage showing its special forces carrying out the invasion for the first time
Heavily armed soldiers were seen stalking across the border under cover of darkness before later advancing into a Lebanese village
IDF troops are seen operating in southern Lebanon in footage released by the Israeli military
News of the losses came as Israel’s military released video footage showing its special forces carrying out the invasion for the first time.
Heavily armed soldiers were seen stalking across the border under cover of darkness before later advancing into a Lebanese village – an urban combat environment that would undoubtedly provide ample opportunity for Hezbollah to employ devastating guerrilla tactics.
Earlier today, Hezbollah’s media officer Mohammad Afif claimed his fighters inflicted losses on Israeli units in the villages of Adaisseh and Maroun al-Ras, and said more than 100 rockets were launched at troop gatherings across the border.
He also sought to dispel speculation that the Lebanese militant outfit had been weakened by ongoing Israeli attacks, which last week killed leader Hassan Nasrallah and a slew of other senior commanders.
‘Our forces and resistance are fully prepared to confront and resist the enemy. I tell everyone that the resistance is fine and the command and control system is fine,’ Afif declared.
‘What happened today in Misgav Am, Maroun al-Ras and Adaisseh today is only the beginning,’ Afif said.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military is preparing a response to yesterday’s shocking attack by Iran that saw nearly 200 ballistic missiles streak across the Middle East and rain down on Israel last night.
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