Aug. 1 () –
Australian authorities on Thursday called on their citizens to “immediately” leave Lebanon for security reasons as tensions mount between Israel and the Shiite militia party Hezbollah in the region.
“My message to Australian citizens and residents in Lebanon is: now is the time to leave. If you are in Australia and are thinking of travelling to Lebanon, please do not,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a video, noting that some commercial flights are still operating for now.
In this regard, he warned that the Lebanese government could proceed to close the airport in Beirut, the capital, if a broader conflict breaks out in the area.
If this were to happen, Australian citizens would have to leave the country via Cyprus, as they did in 2006 during the Lebanon war. However, senior government officials have stressed that there is no guarantee that such a large-scale rescue operation would be possible.
“Since the evacuation in 2006 we have seen the terrible explosion in the port of Beirut, which has affected port capacity. We have also seen a deterioration in the security situation in the countries bordering Lebanon. So the context in which we are operating (…) and the plans we have made are much more complex today than in the past,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Tim Watts.
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