U.S. organized flight from Beirut to Istanbul for Americans leaving Lebanon

The U.S. said Wednesday it organized a flight from Beirut to Istanbul to facilitate the departure of more than 100 Americans as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah intensified on the ground in Lebanon.

«There was a flight that left a couple of hours ago from Beirut, had a capacity of 300, had somewhere a little over 100 American citizens and their family members who departed,» State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters about the flight that left for Istanbul.

He said 7,000 Americans have registered with the government for information on leaving Lebanon, although not all are seeking to depart.

«Not all of those are looking for assistance to leave, but we ask people to register with us for more information,» he said. «It’s been a priority for us to enhance the capacity of flights in and out of the region, so we’ve contracted with additional carriers to facilitate the transport of American citizens.»