according to Cyprus Post 30 ships carrying 500 people have arrived in Cyprus, many of them from the European Union, and this number is expected to increase in the coming days.

A total of 12 flights, carrying a total of 1,858 passengers, were also diverted to Cyprus from elsewhere in the Middle East. This was announced by the country's Foreign Minister, Constantinos Koumpos, on Wednesday.

6-7 boats per day

According to Heodoros Gotsis, spokesman for the Cypriot Foreign Ministry, six to seven boats arrive at the port of Ayia Napa every day.

There are evacuees on board, including diplomatic staff from European Union countries stationed in Israel or Lebanon, who are now being helped to return home via Cyprus. But Lebanese citizens are also leaving their homeland by boat.

Many flights from Beirut are full, and other departures have been canceled as the war between Israel and Hezbollah escalates.

Yachts from Lebanon have been arriving daily at the ports of Ayia Napa and Larnaca in Cyprus in recent days, Cyprus news agency CNA and Radio RIK reported on Wednesday.

There are diplomats and other embassy employees on board the yachts.

News website NationalEmirates, based in the United Arab Emirates, wrote on Monday that there was only one airline still flying from Lebanon to Cyprus and that many wanted to leave, and there was an 11-day wait.

At the port of the town of Dbayeh, north of Beirut, Samar Mahfouz stood with her husband and two children. They couldn't wait 11 days.

So the children panicked

-We already had travel plans. “We took it one day at a time and waited to see what would happen,” she told The National.

But when it came to this, they made up their minds.

– When I saw my children shaking and terrified, it was over.

The cost of a boat trip from Beirut to Ayia Napa is estimated at between $1,100 and $1,660, which is equivalent to between 11,500 and 17,500 kroner, NTB wrote.

The distance is about 180 kilometers, and Cyprus is the EU member state closest to the war zones.

The Cypriot authorities are now working on a plan to welcome European Union citizens and other foreigners traveling from Lebanon. If the conflict intensifies, evacuees will be transported to the coastal cities of Limassol and Larnaca by ferry. Evacuees from Gaza have been transported via similar routes since the war began in October 2023.

As part of the evacuation plan, people will be accommodated in tents, schools and hotels until they can travel to their home countries.