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US, other governments urge citizens to leave Lebanon as threat of war looms
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Breaking News
Middle East


US, OTHER GOVERNMENTS URGE CITIZENS TO LEAVE LEBANON AS THREAT OF WAR LOOMS

July 29, 2024 12:38 PM
 * By Dale Gavlak

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


People sit near their luggage at the Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport,
in Beirut, Lebanon, July 29, 2024.
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Amman, Jordan — 

A number of Western governments are urging their citizens to leave Lebanon as
tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants escalate.

Lebanon is bracing for an Israeli military response to a suspected Hezbollah
rocket strike that killed 12 Druze children and young people on a football field
in the Golan Heights on Saturday.

Israel has said it would retaliate and civilians are bracing for what officials
said could be days of fighting.

The United States, Germany, Britain and France are among the governments issuing
travel warnings to their citizens, calling on them to leave Lebanon immediately
or avoid travel there as the risk of conflict widens.

Rena Bitter, assistant secretary for consular affairs at the U.S. Embassy in
Beirut, told Americans in Lebanon to “create a crisis plan of action and leave
before the crisis begins,” in a video on X, formerly Twitter.

“We recommend U.S. citizens develop a crisis plan of action and leave before a
crisis begins. Regularly scheduled transportation is always the best option
while local communications and transportation infrastructure are still intact
and operating normally,” Bitter said.


Members of the Druze minority visit a makeshift memorial for 12 children and
teens killed in a rocket strike on a soccer field, in the village of Majdal
Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, July 29, 2024.

Germany has told its citizens to urgently leave Lebanon, saying air travel could
soon be suspended, and that a further escalation could stop air travel from
Beirut airport.

Already, Germany’s Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines, Air France, and
Turkish Airlines have suspended flights to Beirut, citing the security situation
in Lebanon.

In remarks to CNN, Lebanon’s caretaker foreign minister, Abdullah Bou Habib,
said the Lebanese government can do little to rein in Hezbollah, but added that
the lines of communication remain open.

“The choice to us always is through bad and worse. I don’t think we can do it.
But we always communicate with them. The prime minister, of course, the speaker
speaks with them. There’s a lot of negotiations. To stop, no, because they
started it in support of what’s going on in Gaza,” he said.

Hezbollah said two of its members were killed in an Israeli drone strike in
southern Lebanon on Monday morning. Analyst Dania Koleilat Khatib said there is
much uncertainty as to where Israel will hit in Lebanon.

Khatib, president of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building in
Beirut, told VOA “the two sides don’t want war, but are preparing for one.”

“Everyone is expecting a hit. The hit is coming. They don’t know how big it is,
so the only message they’re passing on to Israel [is] that if you go beyond the
rules of engagement, if you go deep, if you go into Beirut, they will respond,”
Khatib said. “Many wars are not intentional. Mistakes can lead to war and that’s
why we need a cease-fire.”

U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein has expressed concern that “a miscalculation
or an accident” involving civilians could force “either country to retaliate in
a way that slides us into war.”

Targeting Beirut, he warned, could lead to a major escalation.


RELATED

 * ISRAELI STRIKE KILLS 2 IN SOUTHERN LEBANON 

 * ISRAEL HITS HEZBOLLAH TARGETS AFTER ROCKET STRIKE FROM LEBANON KILLS 12

 * ISRAEL THREATENS RETALIATION FOR HEZBOLLAH ATTACK THAT KILLED 12 DRUZE
   YOUNGSTERS

 * A STRIKE FROM LEBANON KILLED 12 YOUTHS. COULD THAT SPARK WAR BETWEEN ISRAEL
   AND HEZBOLLAH?


MORE MIDDLE EAST NEWS

 * RAFAH WATER FACILITY DEMOLITION RAISES HEALTH RISKS IN GAZA, UN SAYS

 * ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE HITS BEIRUT, KILLING 1 PERSON IN ESCALATING TENSIONS WITH
   HEZBOLLAH

 * MOROCCO PARDONS 3 JOURNALISTS HELD FOR YEARS

 * MACRON WARNS IRAN AGAINST SUPPORT OF RUSSIA'S UKRAINE WAR

 * US, OTHER GOVERNMENTS URGE CITIZENS TO LEAVE LEBANON AS THREAT OF WAR LOOMS

 * ISRAEL & PALESTINE: WEIGHING THE SOLUTIONS


THE DAY IN PHOTOS

 * JULY 30, 2024



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