State Department organizes another flight out of Lebanon
The State Department said Monday it organized a flight to carry Americans out of Lebanon on Monday.
The flight carried approximately 150 American citizens, legal permanent residents and their family members from Beirut to Istanbul, the State Department said.
The department said earlier Monday that it had also organized two flights over the weekend carrying a combined 235 passengers from Beirut to Istanbul.
Monday's flight brings the total number of U.S. charter flights from Lebanon over the past week to eight, with 900 combined passengers, according to the State Department.
The State Department said it has additionally blocked off 868 seats for Americans on commercial flights, with a significant share of them filled.
Officials from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut are now in contact with approximately 8,500 people inside Lebanon who have asked for more information about departing the country.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Monday that does not mean that all intend to leave, though the department has assessed that there is still significant demand for additional government charter flights among Americans in Lebanon.
-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston