Several nations have advised their citizens to leave Lebanon due to escalating fears of a broader conflict in the Middle East. Iran has vowed “severe” retaliation against Israel, holding it responsible for the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday. Israel has not commented on the incident.
Haniyeh’s assassination occurred just hours after Israel killed Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Western officials are concerned that Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia and political entity in Lebanon, might play a significant role in any retaliation, potentially provoking a serious response from Israel.
Diplomatic efforts by the US and other Western countries are ongoing to de-escalate regional tensions. In response to the heightened risk, a growing number of flights have been canceled or suspended at Beirut’s only commercial airport.
The US, UK, Australia, France, Canada, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Turkey, and Jordan are among the countries urging their citizens to leave Lebanon promptly. Concerns of escalating violence that could engulf Lebanon are at their highest since Hezbollah increased its attacks on Israel following deadly Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7, in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
Most of the violence has remained concentrated in border areas, with both sides showing reluctance to escalate the conflict further. However, Hezbollah has pledged to respond to Shukr’s assassination in Dahiyeh, their stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
This follows the deaths of 12 children and teenagers in a strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which Israel attributed to Hezbollah and claimed Shukr orchestrated.
Hostilities have continued between the two sides. Hezbollah reported launching drones at a military barracks in Ayelet HaShahar, northern Israel, early Monday morning, wounding two Israeli soldiers. The previous day, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets at the nearby town of Beit Hillel, with no casualties reported. In retaliation, Israel’s air force struck targets in southern Lebanon, killing a Hezbollah fighter and a paramedic in the town of Mays al-Jabal, near the Israeli border.
Additionally, on Sunday morning, two people were killed in a stabbing attack in the Israeli city of Holon. The attacker, a Palestinian from the occupied West Bank, was later “neutralized,” according to police. On the same day, officials from the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza reported an Israeli airstrike hitting a tent inside a hospital, killing at least five people. Nineteen Palestinians were reported killed across the day.
