A young girl helps her parents pulling their luggage as they are evacuated by the French embassy from Beirut. Thousands of foreigners huddled in makeshift transit centres, weary but relieved, as governments around the world ramped up a mass evacuation from the raging conflict in Lebanon. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

International evacuation from Lebanon has reached a peak as the Israel-Hizbollah armed conflict entered its 10th day yesterday.

According to media reports, some 5,000 U.S. citizens will be evacuated from Beirut by ship on Friday, while Saudi-owned commercial vessel Rama was to take another 1,400 Americans to Turkey in the day.

Meanwhile, some 1,300 Britons arrived in Cyprus' Limassol just after dawn aboard the HMS Bulwark ships.

France also announced that about 3,000 French will have left Lebanon by Friday night while 4,000-5,000 others have asked to get out.

Ottawa tries to evacuate some 30,000 Canadian-Lebanese as some 700 Canadians have arrived in Turkey and five ships are expected to bring some 1,200 more to Turkey throughout the night.

The evacuation of 1,000 Italians has already been completed, according to an official announcement.

The Philippines said that it has evacuated 188 people by bus to Damascus and about 100 more are expected to leave Lebanon on Friday, while some 1,500 Filipinos have registered with the embassy to be ready to leave.

Chinese Foreign Ministry said Thursday night that China's evacuation of citizens from Lebanon has almost come to an end as a total of 143 Chinese citizens, including seven compatriots from Hong Kong, have been evacuated.

Tens of thousands of foreign nationals have been fleeing Lebanon as Israel has intensified its air raids on Lebanese targets since launching a massive assault on July 12 when Lebanon's Hizbollah guerillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others in cross-border attacks.

Around 11,500 people, most of them foreigners, fled Lebanon and arrived in Cyprus alone, Cypriot Foreign Minister George Lillikas announced Thursday.