Bassil Asks Embassy to Assist Lebanese in Fire-Hit Australia

Caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil on Monday voiced solidarity with Australia, where catastrophic bushfires have turned swathes of land into blackened hellscapes and destroyed an area about the size of the island of Ireland.

Bassil also instructed Lebanese diplomats in Australia’s Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne to inquire about the well-being of Lebanese expats and to stand by them.

In the biggest-ever call up of reserves, military teams were deployed across eastern Australia to help emergency services assess the damage, restore power and deliver supplies of food, water and fuel to cut-off communities.

Twenty-four people have lost their lives so far, with over 1,800 homes damaged. Two people are missing in New South Wales, the nation's most populous state.

The impact of the bushfires has spread beyond affected communities, with heavy smoke engulfing the country's second-largest city Melbourne and the national capital Canberra.