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US issues urgent advisory for Americans residing in Lebanon as Hezbollah-Israel war intensifies: ‘Depart now’
Amidst rising conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the US Embassy in Beirut has advised US citizens in Lebanon to leave the nation immediately.
Amidst rising conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the US Embassy in Beirut has advised US citizens in Lebanon to leave the nation immediately.
This comes as the Lebanese Red Cross reports that an Israeli airstrike in northern Lebanon has claimed lives of 18 people.
Lebanese Red Cross secretary-general Georges Kettaneh told Al Jazeera that his staff are transporting the deceased and injured from the village of Aitou in the Zgharta region.
According to him, the majority of the victims were civilians, and the current death toll is 22.
He claimed that people in southern Lebanon are in dire need of the protection that international law provides, making the situation there extremely difficult.
US cautions flights ‘will not continue indefinitely’
In a message to Americans on Monday, the embassy stated that “US citizens in Lebanon are strongly encouraged to depart now.”
The embassy suggested to those who are not opting to depart Lebanon now to prepare contingency plans in case the situation deteriorates further.
With the United States reserving thousands of seats on flights flying from Lebanon since September 27, only 1,100 of the projected 86,000 Americans who reside in Lebanon have left the country so far, the State Department said.
The embassy further cautioned that the flights “will not continue indefinitely,” and it urged all the citizens residing in Lebanon to make a decision sooner.
Those who are not intending to depart “should not rely on the US government for assisted departure or evacuations,” the embassy officials stated.
Following massive Israeli airstrikes in Beirut and fierce fighting along the Hezbollah border, other countries had already ordered their citizens to evacuate from Lebanon before the notice was released.
Also Read: After Bleeding IDF In Lebanon, Hezbollah Injures 70 People In Israel; Double Blow For Netanyahu
US blasted for not doing enough to evacuate Americans in Lebanon
Earlier this month, the United States was chastised for not doing enough to evacuate Americans.
According to Cleveland-based Lebanese American Samer Bawab, it took the State Department almost two weeks to arrange a flight to fly him out of Lebanon.
“My problem was there wasn’t enough flights to get out, there is only one airline still operating, Middle East Airlines, and that’s sold out until November,” Bawab told ABC News. He bemoaned that Lebanon has become the most unsafe nation to live in.
Hana Bechara, a fellow American, attempted to book a flight out of Lebanon but she found the State Department's and the embassy's initial instructions to be confusing and unhelpful.
Despite the frequent attacks in Beirut, Bechara told The Intercept that the Biden-Harris government was not offering any financial assistance to cover the cost of the hefty flights to safety.
