NATO member states ask citizens to leave Lebanon immediately
Israel and the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah are on the brink of all-out war, RT reports.
Several NATO members including the United States have issued travel warnings to Lebanon, urging their citizens to leave the country immediately amid the risk of all-out war between Israel and the pro-Palestinian militant group Hezbollah.
RT reported that tensions escalated rapidly on July 27 when a rocket attack killed 12 children in the Druze city of Majdan Shams, in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the projectile was an Iranian-made Falaq-1 missile fired by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon. However, the militants denied any involvement in the attack.
The US Embassy issued a travel advisory on July 27, urging US citizens to “carefully reconsider travel to Lebanon.”
“The security environment remains complex and subject to rapid change,” the embassy said.
Meanwhile, The UK Foreign Office advises against “travel to Lebanon due to risks associated with the ongoing conflict” between Israel and Hezbollah. France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark, as well as non-NATO countries such as Ireland and Australia, have issued similar warnings.
The IDF and Hezbollah have been engaged in sporadic fighting since the Gaza war broke out last October. The militant group has repeatedly fired rockets and mortars at Israeli positions in a show of solidarity with Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza, prompting IDF retaliation with artillery fire and airstrikes.
In response to the attack on the Golan Heights on July 27, Israel threatened Hezbollah with the possibility of “all-out war,” while Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the group had “crossed every red line there, and the response will be proportionate.”
On the evening of July 28, the Israeli security cabinet met and gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant the authority to decide the timing and scope of further military actions.
