The State Department encouraged all citizens in the country to leave “now,” with those who chose to remain instructed to prepare to shelter in place. All citizens outside the country are told not to travel to Lebanon, as the State Department warned that “Iran and its aligned terrorist militias may intend to target universities in Lebanon.”
“If you are in the country, the Department of State urges U.S. citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial flight options remain available,” a notice from the agency read. “The security situation in Lebanon is volatile and unpredictable. Airstrikes, drones, and rocket attacks occur throughout the country, especially in the south, the Beqaa, and parts of Beirut.”
The United States is not at war with Lebanon. However, alongside Israel, it is at war with Iran, which provides backing to the Lebanon-based Shia terrorist organization Hezbollah. The Iranian proxy group began attacking Israel in recent weeks in retaliation for the war in Iran. The strikes prompted Israel to launch a ground invasion in southern Lebanon. The two Middle Eastern countries, which border each other, remain engaged in ongoing strikes, as Israel seeks to root out Hezbollah terrorists in the region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday issued an update on the war in his northern neighbor and Iran, saying the multi-arena military campaigns against Hezbollah and Tehran are “creating visible cracks in the terrorist regime.” Still, he said, Hezbollah holds a “residual capability to launch rockets at us.”
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“Iran is not the same Iran, Hezbollah is not the same Hezbollah,” Netanyahu said. “These are no longer terrorist armies that threaten our existence; these are battered enemies fighting for their own survival.”
The conflict has deepened chaos in Lebanon, leading the U.S. on Friday to publicly urge citizens to flee the area. The State Department had previously ordered nonessential diplomats and their family members at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut to leave Lebanon in late February.
