US Embassy Warns American Citizens in Lebanon to Leave on ‘Any Ticket Available’

Lebanese security forces stand guard on a road that leads to the U.S. Embassy in Aukar, a northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on June 5, 2024. Bilal Hussein/AP Photo

The United States, France, the UK, and many other countries warned their citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible amid rising regional tensions, following strikes in Beirut and Israel in recent days.

The U.S. Embassy in Lebanon told its citizens that they should book “any ticket available to them,“ while the UK’s foreign secretary’s office called on British citizens to ”leave now.”

France sent an alert to its citizens to leave Lebanon “as soon as possible,” according to a statement that was issued by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs on Aug. 4.

“We encourage those who wish to depart Lebanon to book any ticket available to them, even if that flight does not depart immediately or does not follow their first-choice route. U.S. citizens who lack funds to return to the United States may contact the embassy for financial assistance via repatriation loans,” the U.S. Embassy in Beirut stated on Aug. 3, adding that flights by some commercial airlines have been canceled in recent days.

The embassy stressed that “commercial transportation options to leave Lebanon” are still available.

Airlines have begun to suspend flights to and from Beirut, according to a tracker provided by FlightAware.

In a statement on Aug. 3, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy warned the country’s citizens that “tensions are high” in Lebanon, and that the “situation could deteriorate rapidly.”

“While we are working round the clock to strengthen our consular presence in Lebanon, my message to British nationals there is clear—leave now,” he said.

Lammy’s statement called on the parties involved to tamp down the tension, saying that a “widening of this conflict is in nobody’s interest” and called for a de-escalation and diplomatic resolution.

In late July, Israeli officials blamed the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group for an attack that left about a dozen civilians dead in the Golan Heights.

The Israeli military then retaliated by launching an airstrike on Beirut, killing a top commander of Hezbollah. The tit-for-tat strikes have sparked concerns that the Israeli conflict with the Palestinian Hamas terrorist group—which began in October 2023 after the group launched an attack on Israel, killing 1,200 and taking hundreds more hostage—is spreading to other parts of the Middle East.

Tensions also escalated after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech last week that its conflict with Israel has “entered a new phase,” adding that his group is forced to respond.

“The resistance cannot but respond. This is definite,” he said, speaking in a televised address to mark the funeral of the slain commander, attended by mourners clad in black waving the group’s yellow-and-green flag. “We are looking for a real response, not a performative response, and for real opportunities. A studied response.”

An Israeli strike on Hezbollah’s stronghold in the southern suburb of Beirut on July 30 killed Fuad Shukr, head of the group’s military operations, along with an Iranian military adviser and five civilians.

Just hours after Shukr’s killing, the leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in an attack widely blamed on Israel, although Israel hasn’t officially taken responsibility.

On Aug. 4, Jonathan Finer, White House National Security Council deputy adviser, told CBS News’s “Face the Nation” that the United States is deploying more military forces to the Middle East for preventative and defensive measures because of the situation.

The White House is seeking a “de-escalation,” he said.

“Our goal is deterrence, our goal is defense of Israel,” Finer said.

Reuters contributed to this report.