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The U.S. and the United Kingdom urged their citizens over the weekend to get out of Lebanon amid growing signs that a long-feared full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah may be imminent, and as fears mounted Sunday that the entire region could soon be engulfed by the kind of violent escalation Washington has desperately tried to prevent.
The blunt warnings from American and British officials served as a public recognition by leading Western powers that the situation across the Middle East is at its most dangerous inflection point since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
And the warnings came as Western officials reportedly worked behind the scenes to ready an international air defense coalition to fight off a potential Iranian attack against Israel, and as the Pentagon prepared to surge U.S. military assets to the region.
Israeli officials huddled Sunday as well, preparing for what increasingly looks like an inevitable Iranian strike after a series of Israeli attacks took out top commanders across Iran’s network of proxy groups.
Lebanon is widely viewed as a potential ground zero in a broader conflict, with Hezbollah perhaps best positioned to launch coordinated attacks on northern Israel. That would surely spark a major Israeli counterstrike. U.S. and U.K. officials said that reality means their citizens should get out now.
“Tensions are high, and the situation could deteriorate rapidly. While we are working round the clock to strengthen our consular presence in Lebanon, my message to British nationals there is clear — leave now,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement. “A widening of this conflict is in nobody’s interest — the consequences could be catastrophic. That’s why we continue to call for de-escalation and a diplomatic solution.”
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut offered its own warnings and told citizens not to wait for a military evacuation mission.
“We encourage those who wish to depart Lebanon to book any ticket available to them, even if that flight does not depart immediately or does not follow their first-choice route,” the embassy said. “U.S. military-assisted evacuations of civilians from a foreign country are rare. U.S. citizens should not rely on the U.S. government for assisted departure or evacuation in a crisis. In the case of an evacuation, you may not be able to leave with your extended family, cannot take pets, and will be expected to reimburse the U.S. government for your transportation to a safe location. You will be responsible for the costs of onward travel from that safe location to the United States.”
The disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 put a renewed spotlight on efforts to get American citizens out of conflict zones before it’s too late. That withdrawal saw the military frantically racing to get personnel and Afghan allies out of the country amid a Taliban takeover of Kabul. Thirteen U.S. Marines were killed during an ISIS-K attack on the Kabul airport, which was the hub of evacuation efforts.
In Washington, Biden administration officials still insisted that preventing escalation in the Middle East is a key priority, even as such escalation appears to already be happening now. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told “Fox News Sunday” that the U.S. still believes it’s possible to prevent a broader war, though he also stressed that America will stand by Israel.
“Look, when the supreme leader [of Iran] says he’s going to avenge, we have to take that seriously. Now I don’t know what they’re going to do or when they’re going to do it, but we got to make darn sure that we’re ready and that we have the capabilities in the region to be able to help Israel defend itself and quite frankly defend our own people, our own facilities, our own national security interest,” Mr. Kirby said.
In Lebanon, U.S. officials fear that Israel and Hezbollah could soon engage in the kind of all-out conflict not seen since the two sides went to war in 2006.
Tensions are nearing a fever pitch across the Middle East following a series of high-profile Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah and Hamas leaders, and sparking vows of retaliation from Iran, which financially and logistically supports both groups.
Last week, Israel is believed to have carried out a strike in Tehran that killed Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh. Just a day earlier, Israel said it killed Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Lebanon. Last month, Israel launched its first-ever strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who are also backed by Iran and have launched numerous attacks against Israel, including a deadly July drone strike on Tel Aviv.
Now, Israel is bracing for Iranian proxies — and perhaps the Iranian military itself — to launch retaliatory strikes. Iranian officials reportedly met with the leaders of its proxy network last week to plot their next moves.
The U.S. and its partners were reportedly working behind the scenes over the weekend to prepare a multinational coalition to respond to such Iranian attacks, similar to the one that helped repel an Iranian drone and missile assault against Israel in April.
Late Friday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered significant American military assets to the Middle East. The deployment will see the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group in the theater. Additionally, Mr. Austin ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the U.S. European Command and U.S. Central Command regions.
The Pentagon is also taking steps to increase its readiness to deploy additional land-based ballistic missile defense to the Middle East, officials said, and the U.S. also will send an additional fighter jet squadron to the region.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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