Countries Urge Their Citizens To Leave Lebanon Amid Fears Of War
Germany and the Netherlands have become the latest countries to call for their citizens to leave Lebanon, amid rising tensions between the Lebanese armed group Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, raising fears of a war.
The European nations joined Canada, North Macedonia and Kuwait in urging their citizens to leave the country amid further escalation on the Lebanon-Israel border.
Germany stated that its citizens “are urgently urged to leave Lebanon” in an updated travel advisory. “The current heightened tensions in the border area with Israel could escalate further at any time,” it said.
“Germans in Lebanon are urgently asked to leave the country. The situation at the border between Israel and Lebanon is very tense,” the German Foreign Ministry said on X.
This came after German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Lebanon, during which she warned that any “miscalculation” could lead to an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah.
“With every rocket fired across the Blue Line between Lebanon and ISRAEL, the risk increases that a miscalculation could trigger a hot war,” Ms Baerbock said.
The Netherlands issued a warning on for its citizens to leave Lebanon while commercial flights are still operating.
“It is unsafe in Lebanon, and the situation remains very unpredictable,” the Foreign Ministry said.
Earlier, Canada, North Macedonia, and Kuwait advised their citizens to leave Lebanon “while they can” due to the deteriorating security situation.
Other countries have updated their travel advice, warning against all travel to Lebanon and encouraging citizens living there to leave.
On Wednesday, the Swiss Embassy in Lebanon and Syria said that travel to Lebanon “has now become generally inadvisable”.
“A significant deterioration of the security situation in Lebanon can occur at any time,” it said.
Earlier this month, the US Embassy in Beirut advised its nationals to avoid travel to the Lebanon-Israel border area, the Lebanon-Syria border area, and refugee settlements.
The US Embassy issued a reminder on Thursday urging its citizens to “strongly reconsider travel to Lebanon”.
