by Sharon Rondeau
(Nov. 4, 2023) — The U.S. State Department, through its embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, on Saturday issued a “security alert” for all U.S. citizens urging them to leave the country as soon as possible.
The alert followed an October 17 “travel advisory” of “Do Not Travel” given the volatile situation in that area of the world.
“The State Department recommends that U.S. citizens in Lebanon leave now, while commercial flights remain available, due to the unpredictable security situation,” the alert begins. “Please see available flight options at Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport.”
Last month’s notice not only elevated the Department’s travel recommendation to a higher danger level, but also “authorized the voluntary, temporary departure of family members of U.S. government personnel and some non-emergency personnel from U.S. Embassy Beirut due to the unpredictable security situation in Lebanon.”
Saturday’s alert follows a declaration from the terrorist group Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nazrallah, that it “does not fear the United States and is ready to confront the US Navy.”
Nazrallah’s words invoked the October 23, 1983 attack on a military barracks in Beirut which killed 241 American service members and 58 French soldiers. “Those who defeated you in the 80s are still alive,” Nazrallah was quoted as having said.
As of 6:40 p.m., a wide-ranging discussion on the development is taking place on Twitter Spaces hosted by Mario Nawfal, with a number of analysts with knowledge of the region and more than 10,000 listeners, including former 2016 Trump informal foreign-policy adviser George Papadopoulos.
The State Department’s most recent alert was the subject of the discussion for several minutes, with one participant reading from it directly and speculating that airport egress from Lebanon might not be available much longer if the war between Israel and Hamas takes a certain turn.
“You should have a plan of action for crisis situations that does not rely on U.S. government assistance,” one commentator read from the notification, which continues, “The best time to leave a country is before a crisis, if at all possible. U.S. military-assisted evacuations of civilians from a foreign country are rare. There is no guarantee the U.S. government will evacuate private U.S. citizens and their family members in a crisis situation. In the event that a U.S. military-assisted evacuation does occur, our focus will be on helping U.S. citizens. The U.S. government generally cannot provide in-country transportation during a crisis. That includes transportation to points of departure. You will not be able to bring pets with you on any U.S. military-assisted evacuation from Lebanon. You will have to sign a promissory note to reimburse the U.S. government for costs incurred in the case of an assisted evacuation. For more information, please read What the Department of State Can and Can’t Do in a Crisis.”
An active commentator and host on the platform, Nawfal has been issuing regular updates on the war, which erupted after a vicious attack October 7 on Israeli by the terror organization Hamas, on his “X” feed.
Saturday also saw a march in Washington, DC favoring the Palestinian cause with more than 100,000 participating, according to The Daily Mail (UK).