Israeli rescue force members inspect the site where a missile fired from Iran towards Israel hit a school building in central Israel.Amir Cohen/Reuters
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The latest from the Middle East
The Israeli military said missiles had been launched from Iran at Israel. Alarms sounded across the country and Israelis rushed for shelter.
Israeli units launched limited ground raids into Lebanon on Tuesday, as Hezbollah fired missiles at Tel Aviv.
Israel has warned Lebanese people to evacuate border communities to avoid harm from the limited ground operations.
Further reading:
- Iran launches missiles at Israel in retaliation for killing of Hezbollah leaders, Israeli military says
- Ottawa hopeful for Middle East ceasefire while working on evacuating Canadians, Blair says
- At least 6 dead in suspected terror attack in Tel Aviv
- Factcheck: Misleading visuals shared online as Iran strikes Israel with ballistic missiles
- Yacht captains in Lebanon shift focus to help people flee escalating Israel-Hezbollah conflict
Follow the latest updates below.
This live coverage has now ended. Find the latest up-to-date information on the Middle East here.
8:26 p.m. ET
Top Iranian commander warns Israel not to retaliate or risk attacks on infrastructure
A top Iranian military commander has warned that his country will hit Israel’s entire infrastructure if it takes any action against its territory.
Iran’s armed forces joint chief of staff Gen. Mohammad Bagheri said Wednesday that the Revolutionary Guard was prepared both defensively and offensively to repeat its missile attack with “multiplied intensity.”
- The Associated Press
6:04 p.m. ET
Iran’s action against Israel concluded unless Israel invites further retaliation, foreign minister says
Smoke rises over Beirut's southern suburbs after a strike, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, Oct. 2, 2024.Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters
Iran exercised “self-defence” against Israel and its action is concluded unless the “Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on social media platform X early on Wednesday.
Tehran launched a salvo of missiles on Tuesday against Israel in retaliation for the killing of several leaders of Iran-aligned armed groups.
The Iranian foreign minister said Iran’s action against Israel came after exercising tremendous restraint to give space for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Our action is concluded unless Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation. In that scenario, our response will be stronger and more powerful,” Araqchi added.
- Reuters
5:22 p.m. ET
UN Security Council schedules an emergency meeting
The UN Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting on the escalating situation in the Middle East.
The meeting will take place Wednesday at 10 a.m. EDT and was organized at the request of France.
The announcement came in the hours after Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel. Iran said the missiles were a response to Israeli attacks that killed leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, which are both backed by Tehran.
- The Associated Press
5:21 p.m. ET
55 killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon Tuesday, health ministry says
Fifty-five people were killed and 156 wounded in Israeli attacks across Lebanon on Tuesday, the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement.
- Reuters
4:51 p.m. ET
Israeli PM vows retaliation against Iran
A member of Israeli rescue force inspects the site where a missile fired from Iran towards Israel hit a school building, in central Israel, Oct. 1, 2024.Amir Cohen/Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday vowed retaliation against Iran for its missile barrage on Israel.
“Iran made a big mistake tonight and it will pay for it,” Netanyahu said as he gathered his Security Cabinet for a late-night meeting.
Netanyahu said the missile attack was a failure and that Iran would soon learn a painful lesson just as its enemies in Gaza, Lebanon and other places have learned.
“Whoever attacks us. We attack them,” he said.
- The Associated Press
Latest map of Israel-Hezbollah conflict
4:23 p.m. ET
TSX hits record closing high as rising Middle East tensions boost oil prices
Canada’s commodity-linked main stock index inched up to a record closing high on Tuesday, adding to blockbuster third-quarter gains, as resource shares benefited from higher oil and gold prices after an escalation in the Middle East conflict.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended up 33.62 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 24,033.99, slightly eclipsing the record closing high it posted on Thursday.
“With some of the concerns in the Middle East and the strength in oil and the commodities, the TSX did well versus some of the other peers,” said Greg Taylor, a portfolio manager at Purpose Investments.
U.S. stocks fell as investors grew more cautious after Iran fired missiles at Israel.
The TSX’s energy sector climbed 3.4 per cent as oil settled 2.4 per cent higher at $69.83 a barrel. Gold, a traditional safe haven, also rose, helping to lift metal mining shares.
- Reuters
4:20 p.m. ET
Biden says consequences for Iran remain to be seen after Israel attack
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Iran will face "severe consequences" for attacking Israel and the U.S. will work with Israel "to make that the case."
Reuters
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that there was an active discussion ongoing over how Israel would respond to an Iranian ballistic missile attack, and that the consequences for Tehran remain to be seen.
Biden, speaking at the White House, said he would be speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said Iran’s attack appeared to have been ineffective.
- Reuters
4:11 p.m. ET
Iran calls on UN to prevent further escalation in Middle East tensions, foreign ministry statement says
Palestinians investigate a projectile, after Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles, in Tubas, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Oct. 1, 2024.Raneen Sawafta/Reuters
Iran’s foreign ministry called on the United Nations Security Council to take “meaningful action” to prevent threats against regional peace and security, after Tehran launched a salvo of missiles on Tuesday against Israel in retaliation for the killing of several leaders of Iran-aligned armed groups.
- Reuters
4:08 p.m. ET
Iran says most of the missiles it fired at Israel hit their targets
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said 90 per cent of missiles it launched against Israel hit their targets successfully.
The statement broadcast on state TV late Tuesday said the attack targeted air and radar bases as well as security apparatus that planned the killing of senior Hamas and Hezbollah figures.
It said Iran has a right to defend itself under international regulations.
The TV station showed footage of missiles being launched in the darkness from unidentified locations in Iran.
- The Associated Press
4 p.m. ET
EU condemns Iran’s attack on Israel, urges regional ceasefire
The European Union on Tuesday condemned “in the strongest terms” an Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel and called for an immediate ceasefire across the Middle East.
“The dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation risks ... spiralling out of control,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell posted on X. “An immediate ceasefire across the region is needed.”
- Reuters
3:25 p.m. ET
U.S. working with airlines to provide additional flights out of Lebanon with seats for Americans
The United States is working with airlines to provide additional flights out of Lebanon with more seats for Americans, the State Department said on Tuesday, after Israel said overnight that its troops had launched ground raids into Lebanon.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that around 6,000 U.S. citizens in Lebanon have registered with the U.S. for information on how to depart the country, though he said not all were seeking assistance with departing.
- Reuters
3:20 p.m. ET
Blinken says Iran fired some 200 missiles at Israel
Missiles launched from Iran towards Israel streak across the night sky as seen from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024.Abdel Kareem Hana/The Associated Press
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Iran fired around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel.
“This is totally unacceptable, and the entire world should condemn it,” he said during a meeting Tuesday with the Indian foreign minister at the State Department.
Blinken says initial reports suggest Israel, along with allies including the U.S., “effectively defeated this attack,” underscoring Washington’s “commitment to Israel’s defense.”
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House that U.S. destroyers fired missile interceptors at some of the inbound missiles.
Sullivan called the attack “a significant escalation by Iran,” and reiterated there would be “severe consequences” on Iran for the attack.
- The Associated Press
3:17 p.m. ET
U.S. calls on every nation to join it in condemning Iran’s attack on Israel
The United States on Tuesday called on every nation in the world to join it in condemning Iran’s attack on Israel after Tehran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel, which the State Department said was a brazen and unacceptable attack.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Washington at this time was not aware of any damage to U.S. facilities in the attack. He said the U.S. had no warning from the government of Iran that they were going to launch such an attack.
- Reuters
3:06 p.m. ET
Iran’s ballistic missile attack appears to have been defeated: U.S. National Security adviser
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday that Iran’s attack on Israel appeared to have been defeated, although President Biden’s administration was still monitoring a “fluid” situation.
Sullivan said the administration was tracking the reported death of a Palestinian civilian in the West Bank.
- Reuters
Air defences could be seen intercepting missiles amid the sound of sirens and explosions over Tel Aviv on Tuesday as Iran fired a salvo of missiles at Israel in retaliation for Israel's campaign against Tehran's Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.
Reuters
3:02 p.m. ET
Three men fatally shot by Israeli forces in northern Gaza
Palestinian medical officials say Israeli forces have killed at least three people trying to return to their homes in the northern half of Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces stationed at the east-west Netzarim route that divides the Palestinian enclave opened fire on the men Tuesday, according to the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the central town of Deir al-Bahah.
An Associated Press journalist saw ambulances taking people to the hospital, and counted the bodies.
The officials said the men were among a group of people trying to return to their homes.
The Israeli military has sealed off northern Gaza and is preventing displaced people from returning to their homes there.
- The Associated Press
2:56 p.m. ET
Britain ‘completely condems’ Iran’s actions, PM’s office says
Britain “completely condemns” Iran’s actions after it fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel and calls for de-escalation across the region, the office of Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday.
Sky News reported earlier Starmer had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan’s King Abdullah.
Starmer’s office did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comments on those calls but said more calls with European leaders were expected this evening.
- Reuters
2:44 p.m. ET
Iran-backed Iraqi militias warn U.S. against ‘hostile action’ in support of Israel
Iran-backed Iraqi militias say if the U.S. takes part in “any hostile action” against Iran then American interests in the region will be under threat.
The statement Tuesday from the group calling itself the Coordination Committee for the Iraqi Resistance also warned Israel against using Iraqi airspace to retaliate against Iran for a missile barrage fired at Israel, saying “all American bases and interests in Iraq and the region will be our target.”
Iran-backed militias in Iraq regularly target bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria with drones, saying they are retaliating for Washington’s support of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
- The Associated Press
2:19 p.m. ET
Israel military says Iran attack will have consequences
Iran’s missile attack on Tuesday was serious and will have consequences, Israel’s military spokesperson said, declining to specify how and when Israel would respond.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said he was not aware of any casualties from the missile volley. He said there were a few hits in the centre of the country and in the south.
“We are on high alert both defensively and offensively,” Hagari said in a TV broadcast. “We will defend the citizens of the State of Israel. This attack will have consequences. We have plans, and we will operate at the place and time we decide.”
- Reuters
2:07 p.m. ET
Ottawa hopeful for Middle East ceasefire while working on evacuating Canadians, Blair says
Canada is hoping for a ceasefire in the current Middle-East conflict, but stepping up its efforts to evacuate Canadians from Lebanon, says the defence minister.
“We have called for a ceasefire. I still remain hopeful. I think we have to remain hopeful that there is the possibility of a ceasefire or diplomatic resolution of the current conflict,” Bill Blair told journalists on Parliament Hill following Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.
“But we’re watching with increasing concern about the escalation of violence.”
He was speaking as word came that Iran was firing ballistic missiles at Israel, a development that follows Israel sending military units into Lebanon.
“The word of Iran launching a missile attack is a significant escalatory move. Additionally we saw yesterday Israel begin raids into Lebanon,” said the minister.
Mr. Blair says aircraft and commercial flights being used as part of a response to calls for help from about 4,000 Canadians in Lebanon, who have registered for help.
Read more from The Globe’s Ian Bailey in Ottawa
1:50 p.m. ET
Iran launches missiles at Israel in retaliation for killing of Hezbollah leaders, Israeli military says
This picture shows projectiles being intercepted by Israel near the northern city of Baqa al-Gharbiya on Oct. 1, 2024.MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images
Iran launched hundreds of missiles at cities across Israel on Tuesday, in what the country’s Revolutionary Guard said was retaliation for Israel’s recent assassinations of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
The barrage also came the same day that Israel confirmed that it had begun what it said was a limited military operation in southern Lebanon aimed at uprooting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, raising the prospect of a wider regional war across the Middle East.
Read more from Globe correspondents Mark MacKinnon and Eric Reguly, on the ground in Jaffa and Beirut
Projectiles were intercepted over Jerusalem Tuesday evening, as the Israeli military said Iran fired missiles at Israel and warned Israelis to shelter in place. Air raid sirens sounded off across the country.
The Associated Press
1:43 p.m. ET
Israel military says Iran missile attack over, citizens can leave shelters
People take cover in Israel as air raid sirens sounded in central Israel on Oct. 1.JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images
The Israeli military said on Tuesday the missile attack from Iran was over and people could leave air raid shelters.
“Following the situational assessment, it was decided that it is now permitted to leave protected spaces in all areas across the country,” it said in a statement.
- Reuters
1:30 p.m. ET
People in Tel Aviv take cover as sirens sound in Israel
People take cover behind vehicles under a bridge along the side of a highway in Tel Aviv on Oct. 1, 2024.JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images
Air raid sirens sounded in central Israel on Oct. 1, Israel’s military said, a day after the army launched ground operations into southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah positions.
1:22 p.m. ET
Israeli military says it killed another senior Hezbollah operative
Israel’s military says it killed a senior Hezbollah operative in an airstrike on an apartment building on the edge of Beirut.
The Israeli military says Mohammed Jaafar Qassir was killed in a strike Tuesday afternoon. It says Qassir was in charge of Hezbollah’s Unit 4400 that ships weapons from Iran to Lebanon and he supervised Hezbollah’s development of precision-guided missiles.
The Israeli military said Qassir also sent hundreds of millions of dollars to Hezbollah in recent years.
There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah on the Israeli claim.
Qassir’s brother Ahmad carried out a suicide attack in southern Israeli port city of Tyre in 1982 that killed dozens of Israeli soldiers. His death is marked annually as “Martyr’s Day.”
- The Associated Press
1:17 p.m. ET
Air traffic affected in Israel, Jordan after Iranian missiles launched
Israeli army radio said that take-offs and landings at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv have stopped after Iran launched missiles towards Israel.
Jordan temporarily suspended air traffic following the salvo of Iranian ballistic missiles, the Jordanian state news agency said.
- Reuters
1 p.m. ET
Biden says U.S. ready to help Israel defend itself from Iranian missiles
In Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden said the United States was prepared to help Israel defend itself from Iranian missile attacks.
“We discussed how the United States is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks, and protect American personnel in the region,” Biden said on X about a meeting held with Vice President Kamala Harris and the White House national security team earlier in the day.
- Reuters
12:41 p.m. ET
Israeli military says Iran has fired missiles at Israel
The Israeli military said on Tuesday that missiles had been launched from Iran at Israel.
Alarms sounded across the country and Israelis rushed for shelter. Reporters on state television lay flat on the ground during live broadcasts.
Earlier, the military had announced that any ballistic missile strike from Iran was expected to be widespread and told the public to shelter in safe rooms in the event of an attack.
Iran has vowed to retaliate following attacks that killed the top leadership of its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.
The firing of missiles came after Israeli troops launched ground raids into Lebanon, in the biggest escalation of regional warfare since fighting erupted in Gaza a year ago. Read more.
- Reuters
12:23 p.m. ET
Shooting attack in Tel Aviv with a number of casualties, police say
There were reports of a shooting in Tel Aviv on Tuesday with emergency services on the scene. TV footage showed medics and paramedics at a light rail station, standing near an unknown number of bodies on the ground, covered with black sheets.
The Associated Press
Israeli police said on Tuesday there was a suspected “terror” shooting in Tel Aviv on the border with Jaffa with a number of casualties.
Israel media reported at least four people were seriously injured. Read more.
- Reuters
12:14 p.m. ET
A look at how Israel’s Iron Dome works
Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system
Designed to intercept short-range rockets fired from up to 70 km away, as well as mortars, artillery shells and drones, Iron Dome consists of radar, a control centre and launchers.
TAMIR INTERCEPTOR
Length: 3 m
Weight: 90 kg
Unit cost: $80,000
IRON DOME
System developed by state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Batteries currently deployed at 10 sites in Israel
Target
Target
3
3
3
1
2
1
Radar: Can detect up to 1,000 separate targets
2
Control centre: Assesses threat – ignores rockets
aimed at unpopulated areas
3
Launchers: Can fire 20 missiles each
SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS
Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system
Designed to intercept short-range rockets fired from up to 70 km away, as well as mortars, artillery shells and drones, Iron Dome consists of radar, a control centre and launchers.
TAMIR INTERCEPTOR
Length: 3 m
Weight: 90 kg
Unit cost: $80,000
IRON DOME
System developed by state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Batteries currently deployed at 10 sites in Israel
Targets
3
3
3
1
2
1
Radar: Can detect up to 1,000 separate targets
2
Control centre: Assesses threat – ignores rockets
aimed at unpopulated areas
3
Launchers: Can fire 20 missiles each
SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS
Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system
Designed to intercept short-range rockets fired from up to 70 km away, as well as mortars, artillery shells and drones, Iron Dome consists of radar, a control centre and launchers.
TAMIR INTERCEPTOR
IRON DOME
System developed by state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Batteries currently deployed at 10 sites in Israel
Unit cost: $80,000
Weight: 90 kg
Length: 3 m
Targets
Radar: Can detect up to
1,000 separate targets
1
Control centre:
Assesses threat –
ignores rockets aimed
at unpopulated areas
2
3
Launchers: Can fire
20 missiles each
3
3
3
1
2
SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS
12:04 p.m. ET
UN secretary-general warns against further escalation in Lebanon
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the 79th UN General Assembly at headquarters in New York, U.S., on Sept. 24, 2024.Mike Segar/Reuters
The United Nations chief is appealing for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, warning that escalation to an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah militants must be avoided “at all costs.”
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, who delivered the message from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, stressed that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon must be respected.
Guterres spoke earlier Tuesday to Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati and told him the UN system is mobilized to assist those in need, Dujarric said. He also appealed to the international community to urgently support a $426 million humanitarian appeal to help the people of Lebanon.
- The Associated Press
12 p.m. ET
Vessels hit with missiles off Yemen’s port of Hodeidah, Houthis claim attack on tanker
People check the destruction at a power station at the port in Yemen's rebel-held Hodeida city on Sept. 30, 2024, a day after it was targeted in Israeli strikes.-/AFP/Getty Images
Two vessels sustained damage after being hit with missiles and a sea drone off Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah early on Tuesday, maritime security agencies and sources monitoring the area said.
Both vessels reported that their crews were safe.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militants later claimed the attack on one of the vessels, saying that it was struck with eight ballistic and winged missiles, a drone and an uncrewed surface boat.
They also said they had targeted a third ship, Marathopolis, in the Indian Ocean with a drone and with a winged missile.
Houthis have launched attacks on international shipping near Yemen since last November in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
- Reuters
11:20 a.m. ET
Iran preparing imminent missile attack on Israel, U.S. warns
A drone is displayed during Iranian defence week in Tehran, Iran, on Sept. 24, 2024.Majid Asgaripour/Reuters
The United States has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel that could be at least as large as a strike that Tehran staged earlier this year, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.
The United States is actively supporting preparations to defend Israel against a new Iranian missile attack, a senior White House official said.
“A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran,” the official said.
A second U.S. official said that the Iranian strike could be as large or potentially bigger than one on April 14 in which Tehran launched more than 300 missiles and drones.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The April attack - the first-ever direct Iranian strike on Israel - was in retaliation for what Iran called an Israeli strike on its Damascus consulate that killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers, including two senior commanders.
It caused only modest damage inside Israel due to air defense interceptions not only by Israel, but by the United States, Britain and other allies in the region. Read more.
- Reuters
11:16 a.m. ET
As Israeli jets hit Beirut, people flee to sleep on the beach
A displaced woman sits at Beirut's Ramleit al Baida beach turned into a makeshift refugee camp, on Oct. 1, 2024. Intense Israeli attacks may have forced up to a million people to flee parts of Lebanon in possibly the worst displacement crisis in the tiny country's history, Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Sept. 29.PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images
The repeated blasts in Beirut’s southern suburbs where Israel has been carrying out airstrikes this week have driven Zeina Nazha and her young daughter to camp on a city beach seeking safety from the war in Lebanon.
She and some others from those suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, a stronghold of Israel’s Iran-backed foe Hezbollah, are sleeping on blankets either under the open sky or in tents and other makeshift shelters with no safer place to go.
Israel’s stepped-up military campaign in Lebanon over the past two weeks has driven a million people from their homes in the south, in Beirut and in the Bekaa valley in the east, according to the Lebanese government.
Israel says its campaign is necessary to make its own northern regions safe from Hezbollah rocket fire and allow thousands of its citizens home.
“There was bombing in al-Sallem neighbourhood. We stayed for a while there and my family fled,” said Nazha.
“The situation we’re living in is very difficult... people are dying,” she added.
She and her daughter spent a night sleeping on the corniche, the seaside walk around central areas of Beirut that in peaceful times is a hub of city life, filled with families strolling or sitting and eating.
The government and private or charitable bodies have set up numerous shelters in schools and other facilities to accommodate people displaced by the fighting. But Nazha said all those she had visited were full up.
Nearby, Mohamed Terkmene, a Syrian man living in Lebanon who has also been displaced by the conflict, said he had been sleeping at the beach for four days. He said soldiers had come to tell him and his neighbours to evacuate their Dahiyeh homes.
“We are not able to sleep and we don’t know for how long we will stay here. A month, two months, a week or two, until this war is resolved,” he said.
- Reuters
11 a.m. ET
Yacht captains in Lebanon help people flee escalating conflict
People wait to board a boat and leave the country on Sept. 30, 2024 in Dbayeh, Lebanon. Some in Beirut have arranged to evacuate to Cyprus by boat amid Israel's escalating attacks on Hezbollah facilities and leadership around the country. Beirut's airport is still operational but many travellers have found it difficult to reserve flights.Daniel Carde/Getty Images
The business focus of Ali Nehme, a Lebanese captain and chief executive officer of Beirut’s True North Yachting, has shifted rather dramatically in the last couple of weeks. Today, he is not booking tourists on pleasure cruises; he is ferrying desperate passengers to Cyprus and Turkey as Israel and Lebanon fight each other on Lebanese soil.
Mr. Nehme has access to 30 yachts, which range in length from 20 to 35 metres, each of which is capable of carrying a dozen passengers, plus a skipper and three crew members. The preferred destination of his passengers is the port of Ayia Napa on Cyprus’s extreme southeast coast, a journey of five or six hours, depending on the weather, from Beirut. Passengers who lack European Union visas – Cyprus is an EU member – probably will choose to go to a Turkish port.
The fee is about US$2,500 a head. “Our next boats leave on Thursday, but this is not exactly an emergency departure,” he told The Globe and Mail. “The passengers simply can’t find flights from Lebanon.”
Some of his clients, including embassies and media groups – he would not identify them – purchase one-month contracts that would give them guaranteed passage if there is a sudden rush to leave Lebanon, which could happen if Beirut’s airport were to close.