Western citizens urged to leave Lebanon as efforts to deter Israeli attack continue | Lebanon

Frantic diplomatic efforts to prevent Israel from attacking Beirut in response to a deadly rocket attack on the Golan Heights continued on Monday, while the governments of Britain, Germany, France and the United States issued travel warnings to their citizens, urging them to leave Lebanon or avoid travel there.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said events had “evolved rapidly” and British nationals were being advised “to leave Lebanon and not travel to the country”.

In its travel advice, the British Foreign Office warned that events in the region could escalate “without warning” and severely disrupt trade routes out of Lebanon. “Do not rely on the FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) to evacuate you in an emergency,” it added.

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

Some flights to and from Beirut International Airport were cancelled this week. Most recently, Jordan’s national airline Royal Jordanian suspended its flights on Monday until at least Tuesday.

Washington is trying hard to prevent an open war between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group after 12 teenagers were killed in an attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights over the weekend. Israel and the US blame Hezbollah for the rocket attack, but the group itself denies any responsibility.

The US has reportedly focused its high-speed diplomacy on constraining Israel’s response by urging it not to launch attacks on densely populated Beirut, the city’s southern suburbs, which are Hezbollah’s heartland, or key infrastructure such as airports and bridges.

Lebanese deputy parliament speaker Elias Bou Saab, who has been in contact with US mediators since Saturday’s Golan attack, told Reuters that Israel could avert the risk of a major escalation by sparing the capital and its surroundings.

“If they avoid civilians and avoid Beirut and its suburbs, their attack could be well calculated,” he said.

A National Security Council spokesman told the Guardian that Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu had not spoken since the rocket attack, but stressed that US officials had been in regular contact with Lebanese and Israeli officials since the attack.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said the hectic diplomatic activity was an attempt to contain the expected reaction from Israel, but an attack was to be expected.

“Israel will escalate to a limited extent and Hezbollah will respond to a limited extent… These are the assurances we have received,” Bou Habib said in an interview with local broadcaster Al-Jadeed.

Israel’s calculation of carrying out many attacks deeper inside Lebanese territory, attacking targets in Beirut or even hitting facilities belonging to the Lebanese state rather than the militant group, could prove to be a high-risk strategy, says Danny Citrinowicz, an analyst at the Israel Institute for National Security Studies.

On Monday, Netanyahu announced a “tough” response to the rocket attack on the occupied Golan Heights, saying: “The State of Israel will not and cannot accept this.”

John Kirby, communications adviser to the White House National Security Council, called warnings of a full-scale war “overblown” in a briefing for journalists.

“Nobody wants a major war, and I’m confident we can avoid that outcome,” Kirby said. “I’ll leave it up to the Israelis to decide whatever their response will be.”

New Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose country supports Hezbollah and Hamas, warned Israel against attacking Lebanon, calling it “a big mistake with serious consequences.”

Pezeshkian spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday. The Élysée Palace said Macron told his counterpart that “everything must be done to avoid a military escalation” and called on Tehran to “stop its support for destabilizing actors.”

Reuters, Agence France-Presse and PA Media contributed to this report