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Western citizens urged to leave Lebanon as efforts to deter Israeli attack continue Rockets fired from Lebanon kill one Israeli citizen amid retaliation fears
(about 13 hours later)
Travel warnings issued as US diplomatic efforts reportedly focus on constraining Israel’s response by urging it against targeting densely populated Beirut US diplomatic efforts to constrain Israel’s response continue as Benjamin Netanyahu vows a ‘harsh’ response
A frantic diplomatic push to deter Israel from striking Beirut in response to a deadly rocket attack on the Golan Heights was under way on Monday, as the government of the UK, Germany, France and America issued travel warnings to their citizens, calling on them to leave Lebanon or avoid travel there. Two barrages of rockets fired from Lebanon killed one Israeli civilian in a kibbutz on Tuesday and injured another person, in attacks likely to add to political pressure inside Israel for a strong strike against Hezbollah and complicate a US-led push to de-escalate regional tensions.
British foreign secretary David Lammy said events were “fast-moving” and that British nationals were advised “to leave Lebanon and not to travel to the country.” America has been leading a global diplomatic effort to deter Israel from hitting Beirut or Lebanese infrastructure in retaliation for a weekend rocket attack on the occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children as they played football.
In its travel guidance, the UK Foreign Office warned events in the region could escalate with “little warning” and leave commercial routes out of Lebanon severely disrupted. “Do not rely on FCDO [Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office] being able to evacuate you in an emergency,” it added. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has vowed a “harsh” response. Airstrikes on targets in Lebanon on Sunday and Monday, that killed one Hezbollah fighter, are seen as just an initial foray as the government and military consider their options.
Rena Bitter, the assistant secretary for consular affairs at the US embassy in Beirut used a video on X to tell Americans in Lebanon to “create a crisis plan of action and leave before the crisis begins”. Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, said on Tuesday he does not believe full blown war is “inevitable”. Diplomats from the US have been urging restraint from both parties, sending their messages to Hezbollah through intermediaries including Lebanon’s foreign minister.
Some flights to and from Beirut’s international airport have been cancelled this week, with Jordan’s flag carrier, Royal Jordanian, becoming the latest on Monday, suspending flights until at least Tuesday. “While we’ve seen a lot of activity on Israel’s northern border, we remain concerned about the potential of this escalating into a full blown fight. And I don’t believe that a fight is inevitable,” Austin said.
Washington is racing to avert a full-blown war between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah after the attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan killed 12 youths at the weekend. Israel and the US have blamed Hezbollah for the rocket strike, though the group has denied responsibility. “We’d like to see things resolved in a diplomatic fashion,” he added during a joint press conference in Manila, following security talks between himself, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and their Philippine counterparts.
The US has reportedly focused its high-speed diplomacy on constraining Israel’s response by urging it against targeting densely populated Beirut, the southern suburbs of the city that form Hezbollah’s heartland, or key infrastructure like airports and bridges. Countries including the UK, Germany, France and America have urged citizens to leave Lebanon or avoid travelling there as tensions mount.
Lebanon’s deputy parliament speaker Elias Bou Saab, who said he had been in contact with US mediators since Saturday’s Golan attack, told Reuters that Israel could avert the threat of major escalation by sparing the capital and its environs. The British foreign secretary, David Lammy, said on Tuesday that events were “fast-moving” and that British nationals were advised “to leave Lebanon and not to travel to the country”.
“If they avoid civilians and they avoid Beirut and its suburbs, then their attack could be well calculated,” he said. Many airlines have cancelled flights to Beirut. Greece’s Aegean Airlines and Germany’s Condor were the latest to suspend services, joining others including Royal Jordanian, Air France and Lufthansa.
A spokesperson for the national security council told the Guardian that Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu had not spoken since the rocket attack but stressed that US officials had been in regular contact with both Lebanese and Israeli officials since the strike. Druze residents of Majdal Shams, the town hit by the rocket, have said they do not want strikes on Lebanon in response to their own tragedy. On Monday, many came out to protest against Netanyahu when he visited the town.
Lebanese foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib said the flurry of diplomatic activity has sought to contain the anticipated Israeli response, but an attack was expected. “We reject the shedding of even a single drop of blood under the pretext of avenging our children,” Druze lay and religious leaders said in a statement after Netanyahu’s visit, noting their faith forbids killing and revenge.
“Israel will escalate in a limited way and Hezbollah will respond in a limited way … These are the assurances we’ve received,” Bou Habib said in an interview with local broadcaster Al-Jadeed.’ That is not a mainstream view in Israel where there is heavy political pressure to strike hard in retaliation. The education minister, Yoav Kisch, from Netanyahu’s Likud party, has called for a strong response “even if it means entering all-out war”. The far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said “all of Lebanon must pay the price” for the attack.
The Israeli calculation that it could conduct a large volume of strikes deeper into Lebanese territory, strike targets in Beirut or even hit facilities belonging to the Lebanese state rather than the militant group could prove to be high-risk strategies, Danny Citrinowicz, an analyst with Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said. Tuesday’s rocket attacks, which killed a 30-year-old man in the yard of his home in HaGoshrim kibbutz, will only add to that pressure.
On Monday, Netanyahu, promised a “harsh” response to the rocket strike on the occupied Golan Heights, saying, “the state of Israel will not and cannot let this pass. Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire across the Lebanese border since last October, with daily exchanges gradually intensifying. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced from homes on both sides of the border.
In a briefing to reporters, John Kirby, the White House national security council communications adviser, called warnings of all-out war “exaggerated”. The US says both sides have indicated they want to avoid all-out war. But the scale of the attacks and the high stakes on both sides mean the risk of slipping into full blown conflict through miscalculation, overreach or accident is high.
“Nobody wants a broader war, and I’m confident that we’ll be able to avoid such an outcome,” Kirby said. “I’ll let the Israelis speak to whatever their response is going to be.” Israel and the US say Hezbollah was responsible for the strike on Majdal Shams, saying remnants of an Iranian missile were at the site. The militant group has denied responsibility.
Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian, whose country supports Hezbollah and Hamas, warned Israel against attacking Lebanon, which he said would be “a great mistake with heavy consequences”. Lebanese officials say they are braced for a significant Israeli response, but hope it will be restrained enough to give Hezbollah an off-ramp from further escalation.
Pezeshkian spoke with French president Emmanuel Macron on Monday, with the Élysée Palace saying Macron told his counterpart “all must be done to avoid a military escalation” and urging Tehran to “cease its support for destabilising actors”. “If they [Israel] avoid civilians and they avoid Beirut and its suburbs, then their attack could be well calculated,” the deputy parliament speaker, Elias Bou Saab, who has been in touch with US mediators, told Reuters.
Reuters, Agence France-Presse and PA Media contributed to this report Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, whose country backs Hezbollah and Hamas, warned Israel against attacking Lebanon, which he said would be “a great mistake with heavy consequences”.
Even if the latest tensions can be resolved without further escalation, Hezbollah says an end to its campaign is contingent on an end to fighting in Gaza, so the threat of war will remain, said Danny Citrinowicz, an analyst with Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies.
“Without a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, it is only a matter of time before we reach another conflict in the north of Israel,” he said in a post on X. “Only if Hamas and Israel reach a ceasefire, war between Israel and Hezbollah can be prevented.”