The United States arranged flights to bring roughly 250 U.S. citizens and their relatives out of Lebanon over the past week due to increased tensions in the region between Israel and Hezbollah.
According to The Associated Press, White House and State Department officials met in Washington, D.C., on Thursday with two top Arab American officials regarding the country’s attempt to help U.S. citizens leave Lebanon due to the rising conflict in the Middle East. The two Arab American officials also met with Department of Homeland Security officials regarding the matter.
Abed Ayoub, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s executive director, told The Associated Press that he and Michigan state Rep. Alabas Farhat, a Democrat, used the meetings to emphasize “a lot of important points about the issues our community members are facing on the ground and a lot of the logistical problems that they’re encountering with it when it comes to this evacuation.”
While some officials have called for the United States to initiate an evacuation from Lebanon, Sabrina Singh said a full evacuation was not currently being considered. Singh told reporters, “The U.S. military is, of course, on the ready and has a whole wide range of plans. Should we need to evacuate American citizens out of Lebanon, we absolutely can.”
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According to The Associated Press, reports of Americans leaving Lebanon come as Israel has increased attacks in the country against Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group. Evacuation concerns also come after Iran fired almost 200 ballistic missiles against Israel on Tuesday. Israel is expected to retaliate against Iran in some way in the coming days, leading to concerns of a regional war in the Middle East.
The Associated Press also reported that Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire across the border of Lebanon since the devastating Hamas attack last October.
According to The Associated Press, countries such as the United Kingdom, Greece, Colombia, and Japan have used military planes or arranged flights to remove their citizens from Lebanon amid the growing tension in the Middle East. The outlet noted that the U.S. State Department has warned Americans against traveling to Lebanon and encouraged Americans to leave Lebanon.
Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesperson, confirmed that the U.S. would work to organize flights for Americans out of Lebanon. Miller also noted that Middle East Airlines reserved roughly 1,400 seats for Americans on flights over the past week.
According to The Associated Press, Miller also said that the United States would offer emergency loans for Americans who want to leave Lebanon on U.S.-contracted flights and would offer temporary loans for Americans who want to relocate to safer areas in Lebanon.
