Australian families have been reunited in emotional scenes at Sydney Airport after the first planeload of evacuees touched down from war-torn Lebanon.

A government-assisted flight landed on Monday night, as Israel launched its heaviest bombardment of Beirut since escalating its conflict with Hezbollah.

Australian Dana Hamieh was among the 349 people who arrived in Sydney on the Qatar Airways flight after fleeing the Lebanese capital.

“We were lucky to get out of there because as we were at the airport they were bombing the surrounding suburbs,” she said.

“It was a very difficult situation to be in. Leaving our homes, our parents’ homeland and our houses and friends and relatives.”

Australians have landed in Sydney just as Israel ramped up its attacks on Beirut. Photo: AAP

Elated father Ahmad Hamid embraced his family and thanked the Australian government for helping them get home safely.

“We got our kids back from Lebanon, from the war. Thank you very much,” he said.

“The situation is very bad (in Lebanon) — the war and the airplanes.

“We spent 10 days on the phone every night. We couldn’t sleep, especially with three kids there.”

Thousands more are expected to follow, with almost 3800 Australians and immediate family members registered to depart with the Department of Foreign Affairs.

They will travel from Lebanon into Larnaca in Cyprus before returning to Australia on connecting flights.

Two more flights were also scheduled to leave Beirut on Tuesday.

Another Qantas flight is expected to arrive in Australia on Thursday.

In two weeks, Israel’s bombing campaign has killed more than 1400 Lebanese people and left another 1.2 million without homes.

The federal government is working to secure further seats on commercial airlines out of Lebanon, but Foreign Minister Penny Wong noted flights out “are subject to security and operational restrictions”.

Albanese jeered at vigil

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stands with the Jewish community at a vigil in Melbourne on Monday. Photo: AAP

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese marked the October 7 anniversary by mourning the loss of innocent lives and declaring there was no place for hatred in Australia as vigils were held to commemorate those killed by Hamas and those who remain hostage.

Albanese and Victoria’s current and former premiers Jacinta Allan and Daniel Andrews were among more than 6000 who attended a vigil in Melbourne’s southeast on Monday night.

Zionism Victoria president Yossi Goldfarb slammed the Albanese government for allowing antisemitism to “fester”.

With Albanese just metres away, Goldfarb detailed the community’s feeling of abandonment over the past year and criticised the government’s response with comments that drew applause from the crowd.

“We have seen darkness in Australia,” he said.

“There is a permissiveness that has let anti-Semitism fester.

“A permissiveness encouraged by weak and ambiguous expositions of our foreign policy that in our community’s view have weakened our social cohesion, leaving us to feel that the State of Israel has been abandoned as a natural ally of the Australian people.”

The Guardian reports there were some jeers of “shame” when Albanese walked alongside rabbi Gabi Kaltmann, although the overall event was peaceful.

One man carried a sign reading: “Shame on you Albo. Photo opportunity only!!! No genuine support for Jewish community,” said The Guardian.

Rallies and vigils from pro-Palestinian groups drew condemnation for being held on October 7, with critics calling it insensitive.

Organisers and pro-Palestinian groups say the vigils also commemorate the loss of innocent lives as they call for the Australian government to take action against Israel to prevent further casualties.

Jewish community defiant

Australia’s Jewish community gathered in their thousands across the country as political leaders joined to mark one year since the October 7 attacks.

Family and friends of some of the 1200 people killed by terrorist group Hamas 12 months ago led attendees in a lantern-lit walk before the three-hour-long commemoration began inside the Morris Moor precinct of Moorabbin.

Dozens fashioned Israel flags and T-shirts that paid tribute to hostages taken from Nova music festival as speeches and songs punctuated the service.

At a twilight vigil at the Israeli embassy in Canberra, the nation’s ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said the events of October 7 would be forever etched into his people’s souls.

“Remembering the horror, reliving the anguish and imagining the terror is painful, yet today we must confront those memories,” he told a 100-strong crowd including Australian government ministers and dignitaries.

“This was not just a terrorist attack. It was an attempt to erase us. Over 1200 innocent souls were ripped from our world that day.

“We did not start this war, but we are determined to win this war, not just for our own sake, but for the sake of the free world.

“This isn’t just another conflict. This is a battle between good and evil, between life and the forces of destruction.”

Community leader Moran Dvir said the past year has been marred by grief for much of Australia’s Jewish population.

“Life has changed forever for us … we’re experiencing things that we never thought we would see in our lifetime,” she told AAP.

Federal teal MPs Zoe Daniel and Monique Ryan took part in the Melbourne march along with Jewish state and federal MPs Josh Burns and David Southwick.

“It’s important people have a chance to gather,” Ms Daniels told AAP.

Victorian Opposition leader John Pesutto and Deputy Premier Ben Carroll were also in attendance.

Jewish man Frank Selch says it’s important to remember the victims of October 7 and denounce anti-Semitism, saying decent people need to take a stand against atrocities.

“It’s important for all of us to come out and take a stand today … it’s something that no decent human being should ever condone, give any kind of excuse for,” he told AAP at a rally outside Parliament House in Canberra on Monday.

Designated terror group Hamas killed about 1200 people and took a further 250 hostage on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli authorities.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott said the Jewish people deserved a state of their own to be safe in after suffering a long history of persecution.

Abbott said the community grieved and remembered those killed in the attacks and the hostages who remained captive, before praising Israel’s response.

“October 7, the worst catastrophe to befall Jewish people since the Holocaust, a day of infamy where the killers did not just kill, but they exalted in their killing,” he told the rally.

“”Even the Nazis tried to hide what they did, but these murderers revelled and exalted and posted on social media,” he said.

Chaos has ensued since in the Middle East, where a sustained Israeli counter-attack has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to its local health ministry.

-with AAP