Western governments stepped up calls for their citizens to leave Lebanon while commercial flights were still available, as an anxious region braced for the possibility of a full-blown regional war after twin assassinations in Beirut and Tehran.
France urged its citizens to leave the country as soon as possible due to the “very volatile security context”, following similar calls by the UK, US and Jordan on Saturday, which cited the escalating tensions between Israel, Iran and the Hizbollah militant group.
“We encourage those wishing to leave Lebanon to book any available ticket, even if that flight does not depart immediately or does not follow the itinerary of their choice,” the US embassy in Lebanon said in an email to its citizens.
“Leave now,” UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Britons in Lebanon. “Tensions are high, and the situation could deteriorate rapidly . . . my message to British nationals there is clear.”
Sweden on Saturday shut its embassy in Beirut, calling on all Swedes to leave the country as soon as possible.
Several airlines have suspended, rescheduled or cancelled flights to and from Beirut this week, including Air France-KLM Group, Kuwait Airlines, Lufthansa Group, Aegean, Emirates and Qatar Airways. Some airlines suspended services to Israel.
Israel has publicly claimed responsibility for the assassination of senior Hizbollah commander Fuad Shukr in a densely packed neighbourhood in the militant group’s stronghold in Beirut, but it has neither confirmed nor denied carrying out the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday.
Iran said Haniyeh was killed by a short-range projectile that was fired into the official residence where he was staying in Tehran, and vowed to punish Israel.
The country’s Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that the assassination was “orchestrated and executed” by Israel and accused the “criminal” US of complicity in the strike by providing support for the Jewish state.
Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon-based Hizbollah, has also vowed revenge against the Israel.
Israel and the Lebanese militant group have traded cross-border fire with increasing intensity since Hamas’s October 7 attack. But the simmering conflict has not spilled over into a full-blown conflagration, thanks partly to US-led diplomatic efforts to contain the violence, and partly to a hesitation by both arch-foes to trigger a conflict that could devastate both countries.
Diplomacy has intensified over the past week to try to avert a regional war, while the US has deployed additional forces to the region to help defend Israel.
But Hizbollah affiliates have lashed out at the US envoy who has been working for months to broker a deal between Hizbollah and Israel to end their clashes, accusing Washington of bearing responsibility for Shukr’s assassination. It underlines the challenges the US faces in easing tensions.
The Lebanese militant group was not in a “listening mood”, according to two people familiar with the talks, saying it would respond however and whenever it wanted.
Many Lebanese who have the option have left the capital for areas deemed safer. Those that stayed filled concert venues, restaurants and bars this weekend, confused about what they should be doing while waiting for imminent war.
“I fought with myself for hours about whether to go out or stay home but I decided a glass of wine or three would help calm my nerves,” said 42-year-old Selim Georges, sitting in a popular Beirut restaurant on Sunday.
The calls by western governments to leave Lebanon this weekend added to fears in the country as thousands of Lebanese expats who are home for the summer debated whether to stay or go.
France estimates that some 23,000 citizens live in Lebanon, with thousands more visiting the country this summer, while the UK estimates some 16,000 of its citizens currently live in Lebanon.