[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] The touching scene was played out as other families greeted loved ones who had flown to the UK on a scheduled flight from Beirut.
More than a dozen people, some clutching bouquets of flowers, had waited patiently for their loved ones to appear after Middle East Airlines flight 201 had landed.
Ali, a barber from London, waited for his wife Hasan who had left her home in the village of Tyre, one of the areas in southern Lebanon under heavy bombardment from Israeli forces.
The first charter flight taking UK nationals out of Lebanon has since taken off, foreign secretary David Lammy today confirmed. Another flight is scheduled for tomorrow with 'further flights' planned over the 'coming days', Mr Lammy added.
As of last week, there were thought to be between 4,000 and 6,000 UK nationals, including dependants, in Lebanon.
The first arrivals of Britons fleeing Lebanon come as Israel continues its ground assault and aerial bombardment of the country as the IDF seeks to push back Hezbollah terrorists from its northern border.
And as the fighting continues to spiral, Britons living in Lebanon have been urged to evacuate the country by whatever means they can.
The UK government chartered a commercial flight out of Lebanon to assist British nationals trying to flee the fighting, the foreign secretary announced earlier this week.
The situation was 'volatile' and had the potential to 'deteriorate quickly', David Lammy warned, just hours before Israel announced the start of a 'localised and targeted' ground operation in southern Lebanon.
British nationals and their spouse or partner, and children under the age of 18 are eligible to take the flight, with vulnerable people a priority.
The plane is scheduled to leave on Wednesday from Beirut, which was hit by fresh Israeli air strikes overnight. 
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