On Tuesday White House national security spokesman John Kirby urged that all Americans should leave Lebanon immediately while there are still flights. Two days of heavy Israeli airstrikes targeting especially Hezbollah strongholds of the south have killed at least 558 people and left 1,835 injured, according to the latest Lebanese Healthy Ministry figures. The situation is growing more urgent as the war comes to Beirut.
“We want to make sure that there are still commercial options available for Americans to leave, and they should be leaving now while those options are available,” Kirby told ABC News. The US Embassy in Beirut has since October a year ago issued several alerts and warnings telling Americans to leave the country.
The US has warships in the Mediterranean in the scenario that direct emergency evacuations of stranded US citizens are needed.
Lebanese government sources say that among the over 500 dead are 50 children. Official figures have not distinguished the rest of the fatalities between militants and civilians.
Also on Tuesday Israel launched a third airstrike on the Lebanese capital, again targeting a southern neighborhood in what’s possibly another attempt to take out Hezbollah commanders. Israel’s military says it has attacked over 1,300 Hezbollah targets over the prior 24 hours.
Since yesterday and throughout the night, tens of thousands of civilians have made their way on clogged freeways from the south to north. Many poured into Beirut while others went all the way north to Tripoli.
The below video shows a fresh strike on the Lebanese capital Tuesday:
Historically Hezbollah has long presented itself as the protecting force to the residents of the south, so the fact that it is struggling to provide this now is widely seen as a significant negative blow to its reputation.
As Westerners and Lebanese alike look for a way out, options to get out of the country are fast dwindling. Already most major American and European carriers had halted service to Beirut, but regional carriers are joining them as Israel expands aerial operations to Beirut:
Gulf airlines, including Emirates and Qatar Airways, temporarily suspended flights to Beirut as tensions soared between Israel and Hezbollah.
“The safety of our crew and customers is of utmost importance and will not be compromised,” Emirates said in a statement, announcing the suspension of flights on Tuesday and Wednesday. Etihad Airways and flydubai also joined several international carriers in suspending Beirut services.
The latest airstrike on Beirut appears to have hit a single residential building, with Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reporting several casualties. Initial reports from the region say there are at least three fatalities.
It happened in the southern neighborhood of Ghobeiri, and emergency responders are seeking to access people reportedly trapped among three severely damaged or collapsed floors.
Israeli media is meanwhile reporting that “the target of the Israeli airstrike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut is the head of Hezbollah’s missile unit, defense sources tell Israeli media.” However at this early point his fate is unknown.
Hezbollah meanwhile has fired over 100 rockets on northern Israel in the past several hours, and aerial alarms have been frequently sounding in the port city of Haifa – as it’s come under attack in the past days.
An Israeli official has described the current IDF mission in Lebanon as seeking “to change the balance of power in the north by destroying thousands of rockets, by destroying [Hezbollah’s] capabilities, and through other means.” It began with “various explosions of beepers and other devices across Lebanon” (despite Israel now strangely officially denying it was behind the pager attacks).
“It continued with the assassination of Ibrahim Aqil and the Radwan leadership,” the official described to Times of Israel. “And it has continued over the past two days with the expansion of massive fire with the aim of hitting Hezbollah hard.”
Fires in the aftermath of Hezbollah rockets raining down on northern Israeli towns and settlements:
The United Nations is calling for urgent de-escalation, saying that diplomacy is still possible, but on the ground it’s looking like that ship has sailed.