The U.S. State Department is urging all Americans in Lebanon “to book any ticket available to them” and get out of the country as tensions boil over in the region.
“We updated the Travel Advisory for Lebanon to Level 4: Do Not Travel for the entire country,” the consulate said in a Wednesday statement. Level 4 is the highest travel advisory issued by the agency.
“If you are in Lebanon, be prepared to shelter in place should the situation deteriorate,” the statement added. “The U.S. Embassy strongly encourages U.S. citizens who are already in Southern Lebanon, near the borders with Syria, and/or in refugee settlements to depart.”
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Furthermore, the State Department warned that “there is no guarantee the U.S. government will evacuate private U.S. citizens and their family members in a crisis situation.”
A demonstrator holds up a poster of assassinated Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh outside the United Nations offices in Sanaa, Yemen.
Khaled Abdullah/ReutersThe last time the U.S. evacuated citizens from Lebanon was in 2006 during the Lebanese Civil War.
Iranian-Israeli relations went into a tail-spin earlier this week when Israel assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, in Tehran. Iran claims that Israel killed Haniyeh with a “short-range projectile,” but Israel claims it smuggled a bomb in Haniyeh’s residence.
The day before, Israel conducted an air strike in Lebanon that killed Fuad Shukr, a top Hezbollah commander.
Mourners carry the coffin of Fuad Shukr in Beirut’s southern suburbs
Alkis Konstantinidis/ReutersThe assassinations set off a week of retaliatory threats from Iran and its regional allies.
Iranian proxy forces have already begun repositioning in Syria “with the aim of targeting the International Coalition bases in Al-Hasakah Governorate,” according to the Institute for the Study of War.
ISW also warned that “Iran is likely considering its ability to maintain nuclear deterrence against Israel.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on July 19 that Iran could produce fissile material within “one or two weeks.”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech Friday that they “consider it our duty to take vengeance” for Haniyeh’s death, according to The Washington Post.
U.S. officials fear that Iran may launch a combined drone and missile attack on Israel, akin to to their April attack, according to Axios.
“If Israel is attacked, we certainly will help,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters Wednesday.
The U.S. has deployed additional carrier groups and fighter jets with anti-ballistic missile capabilities, according to officials who spoke with Air & Space Forces Magazine.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh confirmed in a statement Friday, “Secretary Austin has ordered adjustments to U.S. military posture designed to improve U.S. force protection, to increase support for the defense of Israel, and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to various contingencies.”
Meanwhile, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday that, “Our priority continues to be to promote diplomatic solutions for a more peaceful, secure, and integrated region. And that, of course, includes continuing to engage and work very hard to close the remaining gaps as it relates to a ceasefire in Gaza.”
