Two Air Self-Defense Force airplanes left Japan on Thursday in preparation for the possible evacuation of Japanese citizens from Lebanon, where tensions are mounting between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Two C-2 transport airplanes departed from Miho Air Base in the western prefecture of Tottori for Jordan and Greece to stand by, the Defense Ministry said. According to the Foreign Ministry, about 50 Japanese nationals are in Lebanon.
The Defense Ministry formed a 500-member joint task unit after then-Defense Minister Minoru Kihara ordered the ASDF on Sept. 27 to send the planes. It had been asking other countries for permission to fly through their airspace.
If an evacuation becomes necessary, new Defense Minister Gen Nakatani will give the order and Japanese nationals will be transported on board the C-2 planes to a nearby country.
"We have not received any information about Japanese casualties or injuries," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference Thursday.
The situation in Lebanon has been worsening rapidly, with Israeli forces announcing Tuesday they had begun "limited, localized" ground operations against the Lebanese-based Hezbollah, in their first ground invasion of Lebanon since 2006.
The development follows deadly pager and walkie-talkie detonations targeting Hezbollah members and Israeli air strikes on the group's headquarters in the Lebanese capital of Beirut in which its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed.
In retaliation, Iran launched ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday.
Highly dependent on crude oil exports from the Middle East, Japan has traditionally pursued a strategy of "balanced diplomacy" between Arab nations and Israel, which is backed by the United States, Tokyo's security ally.
So far, Japan has conducted operations to airlift its nationals overseas eight times, including twice from Israel since a surprise attack on the nation by the Palestinian militant group Hamas a year ago.
