[Source: Reuters]

Hundreds of Australians have left Lebanon on the latest round of evacuation flights, as the deputy prime minister says Israel’s military response in the region will be closely watched.

On Saturday night, two flights carrying a total of 407 Australians, permanent residents and their immediate family members touched down in Larnaca, Cyprus.

The passengers are in temporary accommodation awaiting their return to Australia on Qantas and Qatar Airways flights leaving from Sunday.

On Sunday night AEDT, two more flights will take off from Beirut for the 45-minute trip to Larnaca.

The first homeward-bound flight, with Qatar Airlines, will leave Cyprus before midnight on Sunday AEDT.

Qantas will operate two 22-hour flights from Larnaca to Sydney on Monday, with the planes set to land on Tuesday and Wednesday.

As of Sunday morning, 3679 Australians were registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as wanting to leave Lebanon, with 1765 registered for information only.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles reiterated pleas for Australians in Lebanon to return home as soon as possible.

“We will continue to work with (Australians in Lebanon) and to provide those opportunities to leave, but people simply have to take those opportunities as they are provided,” he told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.

“This is obviously taking place in an extremely difficult situation and we have got other preparations on plan.”

The first repatriated Australians are due to arrive home on the first anniversary of the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel on Monday.

The October 7 anniversary comes as Israel carries out bombardments in Lebanon, while also vowing to retaliate against Iran following missile strikes.

Mr Marles said while Israel had the right to self defence, it needed to do so properly.

“We’ve also made clear over the course of the last 12 months that how (Israel) defends itself will be judged,” he said.

“We have seen tens of thousands of innocent lives lost in Gaza and indeed innocent lives lost in Lebanon. We are, of course, horrified by that.”

Mr Marles said Australia was in lockstep with western allies in its calls for Israel’s military response to be measured.

“What we’ve seen is a cycle of violence here, and no one wants to see this escalate into a broader conflict.”

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the federal government had failed to properly support Israel in the year since the October 7 attacks.

“(Foreign Minister) Penny Wong and the prime minister and the Labor Party are far more concerned about the domestic political implications of standing with our friend and ally than they are standing up for Australia’s long-standing principles,” he told Sky News.

“They have been utterly jettisoned over the last 12 months, we’ve abandoned Israel at the UN.”

A candlelight vigil for the Jewish community will be held at a secret location in Sydney’s east on Sunday evening, in what will be the first major Australian event marking the anniversary.

Supporters of Palestine will rally at Melbourne’s State Library and Sydney’s Town Hall on Sunday as they do every week, with a heavy police presence expected at both events.

October 7 marks one year since militant groups including Hamas – designated a terrorist organisation by the Australian government – crossed the border from Gaza into southern Israel.

More than 1200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage, according to the Israeli government.

In response, Israel unleashed a bombing campaign and ground invasion of Gaza, killing almost 42,000 people, displacing 1.9 million and leaving another 500,000 with catastrophic levels of food insecurity, local health ministry sources report.

Israel’s military campaign has now spread to Lebanon as it hunts down senior figures in Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group backed by Iran and designated a terrorist organisation by Australia.

with Reuters