Middle East crisis: Why are several countries asking their citizens to leave Lebanon?

• The escalation of the conflict has increased since the assassination of the top leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah | Main photo: EFE

Countries such as Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Sweden and Jordan, among others, have asked their citizens in Lebanon to leave the country “as soon as possible” in view of the risk of an escalation in the Middle East, awaiting an imminent attack by Iran and the Hezbollah group against Israel.

Tensions in that part of the world have increased following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on July 31. Although the Israeli government has not acknowledged responsibility for the assassination, several Israeli ministers have suggested this idea through social media. Even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not denied that his country’s security forces were responsible for Haniyeh’s death.

The Hamas leader was also the chief negotiator with Israel for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh’s death puts discussions on ending the war, which has been going on for more than 300 days, in jeopardy.

The Israeli army fires a flare over the border with Lebanon, in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, in the early hours of August 4, 2024. The Israeli army reported that some 50 missiles had been launched from southern Lebanon towards Israeli territory. On August 3, the IDF had reported that it had attacked Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. (Lebanon, Hezbollah/Hezbollah) EFE/EPA/ATEF SAFADI

Hamas has called on Palestinian citizens to attack Israel in revenge for the killing of Haniyeh. While Israel continues to carry out armed attacks in the Gaza Strip, another war front has opened from Lebanon.

Hezbollah, for its part, fired some 30 missiles at Israeli territory on August 4. The so-called “Iron Dome,” the Israeli army’s anti-missile defense system, intercepted this attack.

The fall of another leader

One of the reasons given by experts to explain this attack by Hezbollah is the assassination of its top leader, Fuad Shukur, which occurred on July 30, which resulted in the conflict in the Middle East now involving the Lebanese state.

On August 4, Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian reiterated that Israel’s assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran will not go unanswered.

A protester holds a poster with the image of Palestinian Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh during a demonstration in Rabat, Morocco, protesting the assassination of Hamas political leader Haniyeh, on August 3, 2024. Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were attacked and killed in Tehran, Iran, on July 31, 2024, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed. (Protests, Morocco, Tehran) EFE/EPA/JALAL MORCHIDI

In a meeting with visiting Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Pezeshkian said the Islamic Republic of Iran expects “all Islamic countries and free peoples of the world to strongly condemn these crimes,” state news agency IRNA reported.

Beirut airport (capital of Lebanon) reported a sudden increase in the number of passengers at that air terminal due to the exhortation of several countries to leave that country.

Several countries have asked their citizens to leave Lebanon

The Spanish Embassy in Beirut recommended on August 4 through its X account not to travel to Lebanon “in the current situation” and in view of the cancellation of flights, it advised Spaniards who are in the country, especially if their stay is temporary, to leave it using “existing commercial means”.

The French Foreign Ministry has asked its citizens to make arrangements to leave Lebanon as soon as possible because the situation is “very volatile”, while reminding that reservations can still be made for direct commercial flights with a stopover in France.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant insisted Sunday that the country is prepared “for both a rapid response and an attack,” and warned its enemies that if they attack “they will pay a high price.” During a visit to the Army brigade in charge of technology on the ground, Gallant received a report on the integration of new types of weapons during the war in Gaza. -EFE/ Ariel Hermoni

In the same vein, the British government on August 3 urged its citizens still in Lebanon to leave now while there are commercial routes to do so, as the security situation could “deteriorate rapidly.”

In recent days, several airlines have suspended or postponed flights to and from Lebanon due to the escalation of tensions following the Israeli bombing in Beirut that killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukr, and the assassination in Tehran of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, attributed to Israel.

With information from EFE

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