A special relief flight carrying 70 Pakistani citizens, who were evacuated from Lebanon amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East, arrived in Karachi on Wednesday morning, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.

Since late September, Israel has bombed Lebanon, claiming to target Hezbollah strongholds, killing more than 1,000 people. The Israeli military has also launched a ground invasion and has killed senior Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The passengers were welcomed at the Jinnah International Airport by Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, federal education minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, and Sindh industries minister Ikramullah Dharejo, according to Radio Pakistan.

On Tuesday, the Foreign Office had said in a statement that the flight would carry 67 Pakistani nationals repatriated from Lebanon, adding that they had travelled to Damascus in Syria by road, from where they would be airlifted to Pakistan.

“Four Pakistanis from Syria are also being evacuated with this flight,” the statement had said.

The FO added that the security, transport, and food arrangements were made by the Pakistani embassies in Lebanon and Syria to ensure incident-free evacuation.

Click to see more

Earlier today, Hezbollah had said its fighters repelled two Israeli army attempts to infiltrate southern Lebanon, as Israel intensified its ground offensive against the group. The Israeli military is now focused on Hezbollah, the Lebanese ally of the Palestinian group.

On the first anniversary of Israel’s invasion of Gaza on Monday, the Israeli military had said that soldiers from its 91st Division had moved into south Lebanon.

At least 42,010 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza, with the actual death toll expected to be much higher, with thousands missing feared under the rubble.

Additional input from AFP.