On 12 July 2006, in an effort to kill Mohammed Deif, leader of Hamas' Military Wing, Israeli jets bombed a house in Gaza.

[6] The Foreign Office contacted the estimated 22,000 who were deemed to be allowed to evacuate, and established that around 5,000 people wanted to leave the country.

846 Naval Air Squadron based at RNAS Yeovilton, also deployed forward to Akrotiri to assist in the airbridge.

[7] Some evacuees were processed at the military base on RAF Akrotiri,[14] and had onward flights from there to Gatwick Airport arranged by private charter.

[16] HMS Illustrious was due to leave Gibraltar with the families of serving personnel on board for the journey back to Portsmouth, however, this was cancelled at short notice and the helicopters from No.

[16] The first flights involved the Chinook helicopters ferrying the most vulnerable from Beirut straight to the military base of RAF Akrotiri.

[21] Subsequent evacuations were handled by Royal Navy ships transporting evacuees across the Mediterranean Sea to Cyprus.

[18] Whilst RFA Fort Victoria was not directly involved in transporting evacuees, she aided the operation by supplying the other ships with fuel, bedding and other essentials.

[27] On 18 August 2006, HMS St Albans returned to her home port of Portsmouth after evacuating 243 people from Beirut to Cyprus.