The American Embassy in Beirut today urged citizens of the United States of America (USA) to leave Lebanon by purchasing any available plane ticket, due to fears of a conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.
Despite the suspension and cancellation of flights to Beirut, "commercial flight options to leave Lebanon remain available," the embassy said in a statement.
"We encourage those wishing to leave Lebanon to book any available ticket, even if that flight is not immediate or does not follow the route of their choice," the statement added.
The UK Government has also called on its citizens in Lebanon to leave the country immediately due to fears of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah and a wider regional conflict.
"Tensions are high and the situation could quickly deteriorate," British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement.
"While we continue to work to strengthen our consular presence in Lebanon, my message to British citizens there is clear - go now," the statement added, as reported by France Press.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on August 2 that the US intends to strengthen its defensive military capabilities in the Middle East to protect its troops there and its ally Israel.
US President Joseph Biden said on Friday that he is very concerned about the situation in the Middle East and at the same time called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to quickly reach a cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip.
Iran and its affiliated groups are preparing a response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Haniyeh's assassination, which took place on July 31, is attributed to Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Lebanon's Hezbollah and Tehran.
His death occurred a day after the Israeli attack in which the military leader of Hezbollah, Fuad Shukr, was killed, near Beirut.
The two attacks are reviving fears of the war spreading to the entire Middle East, between Israel on the one hand and Iran and groups supporting it in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen on the other.
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Israel vowed to kill the leaders of Hamas after the attack of that Palestinian Islamist organization on the southern Israeli territory on October 7 last year, the Associated Press reminds.
A day later, almost daily border clashes between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Hezbollah began.
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