Australian citizens in Lebanon are being urged to leave the country as soon as possible amid heightened tensions in the Middle East.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Oct. 27 said the Australian government had “serious concerns” over the volatile security situation in Lebanon and the risk of the situation worsening.
Travel Warning Not Heeded
At a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials said that their advice was not being heeded, as only 400 out of 15,000 people have registered with the department for possible support so far.“We have, as the minister outlined, increased our messaging ... but frankly the levels of calls that we receive in relation to Lebanon have diminished to very low numbers,” said Deputy Secretary Craig Maclachlan.
Mr. Maclachlan also expressed concerns that Hezbollah, which is classified as a terrorist group by the Australian government, could open a new front to attack Israel from the northern border.
He said that in 2006 during the war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Australian government had put on evacuation flights from Lebanon for more than 5,000 Australian citizens.
However, he noted that the evacuation options were fewer compared to 2006 due to security risks.
“Some of these options are no longer available to us, we simply couldn’t, for obvious reasons, move people overland through Syria,” Mr. Maclachlan said.
“Our ability to make use of airfields is unknown ... [and] anecdotally, we are hearing there are fewer ferries available in the Eastern Mediterranean than there were almost 20 years ago.”
Mr. Maclachlan called on Australians living in Lebanon to “leave now,” saying the government couldn’t be certain that they would be able to carry out evacuation plans.
“[That’s] because we simply don’t know at this point what the nature of the security situation might be like,” he said.
Australia’s Support
The foreign minister also announced a humanitarian package of $15 million to assist civilians in Gaza, including food supplies, water, medicine and other essential assistance.Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles had also revealed that the government was sending a “significant contingent” of two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aircrafts and support troops to the Middle East.
“We’re not identifying where they will be, but the point of this is to provide support to Australian populations who are in the Middle East, if this gets worse, in essence,” he said.
Ms. Wong also showed support for Israel’s right to defence itself and pushed back Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John’s calls to criticise the Israel’s “siege of Gaza” as a “crime of collective punishment.”
Security Risks In The Middle East
Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, said on Oct. 24 that Israel was prepared to push back in Lebanon if Hezbollah terrorists began to attack.“We do not have any desire or interest to open another front but, if forced to, Israel is ready. We will not be surprised again,” Mr. Maimon told the National Press Club.
Meanwhile, on Oct. 25, the head of Hezbollah had met leaders from its Palestinian ally Hamas and the Islamic Jihad to discuss a plan to achieve an “all-out victory” over Israel, according to a Hezbollah statement.
