By Esra Tekin and Rania Abu Shamala
ISTANBUL (AA) - The US and UK issued warnings Saturday to their nationals to immediately leave Lebanon amid fears of a wider escalation with Israel.
The US Embassy in Beirut said some flights by several airlines have been canceled but “commercial transportation options to leave Lebanon remain available.”
“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. US citizens who lack funds to return to the United States may contact the embassy for financial assistance via repatriation loans,” it said in a statement.
It urged those who decide to remain to “prepare contingency plans for emergency situations and be prepared to shelter in place for an extended period of time.”
The UK emphasized that “the UK continues to advise against all travel to Lebanon and advises British nationals still in the country to leave now while commercial options remain available.”
“Consular experts will assist with strategic planning and responding to enquiries from British nationals to make sure they get the help and advice they need, and Border Force has deployed officers who stand ready to aid consular operations,” it added.
The UK noted that it sent officials to the Middle East, including Lebanon, to provide additional support to embassy staff “as part of government’s preparatory planning for a range of possible conflict scenarios, and with regional tensions rising.”
Following recent developments in the Middle East, airlines from the US, Netherlands, India, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, France and Poland announced they had canceled some flights to Israel and Lebanon for security reasons.
Lebanon is currently in a state of heightened security and military alert following an Israeli airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut on Tuesday, which resulted in the assassination of senior Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr.
Tel Aviv said that the strike was a response to the killing of civilians in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights late last week, though Hezbollah denied involvement in the attack.
On Thursday, Hezbollah's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah promised a “genuine and substantial” response to Shukr's assassination, asserting that confrontation with Israel has "entered a new phase, transitioning from merely supporting Gaza to an open major battle."
Fears have grown of a full-blown war between Israel and the Lebanese resistance group amid a months-long exchange of cross-border fire.
The escalation comes against the backdrop of an Israeli onslaught on Gaza, which has killed nearly 40,000 victims since October, following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.