Olivia Ireland reports that two charter flights for up to 500 Australians will depart Beirut Airport for Cyprus on Saturday, as Israel intensifies its airstrikes and ground assault.

Tickets are free of charge for eligible Australians, and a government statement said further flights were also being planned for coming days if the airport remains open. Qantas has confirmed it will operate two non-stop flights from Cyprus to Sydney.

Qantas said in a statement that its “first service is expected to depart Larnaca in Cyprus on Monday evening (local time), arriving in Sydney on Tuesday. The second direct Dreamliner service is expected to depart on Wednesday.”

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Overnight on Thursday, 41 Australians were on flights out of Lebanon to Cyprus, despite reports of airstrikes close to its perimeter.

There are an estimated 15,000 Australians in Lebanon, but only 2338 have registered an interest in leaving with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Watts said people should leave Lebanon urgently, even if they had close family, business interests and homes in the country.

“Plenty of vacant seats though, available for Australians who want them,” Watts said on ABC News Breakfast on Thursday. “We have registered, at the moment, 2338 Australians who want to leave and we’ll be contacting them and working with them to facilitate their departure.

“This is a heart-wrenching decision to leave, but our advice is, don’t think twice about it, now is the time to leave.”

Allan Patience, a professor of political science at the University of Melbourne, said the government’s major problem was the reluctance of people to leave Lebanon.

During a previous conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, DFAT had to evacuate 500 stranded Australians via ship after the airport closed, which Patience said was again at risk.

“There was chaos and people tried to get out to Cyprus by ship, but even that would become dangerous if the real war were to break out in the Middle East, so there are very few options for these people if they don’t get out now,” he said.