Americans were yesterday urged to leave Lebanon after Israel threatened ‘severe’ retaliation for a deadly rocket strike blamed on Hezbollah which killed 12 children.
The US joined a growing list of countries, including Britain and Germany, to issue the advice amid fears of military escalation following Saturday’s attack.
Israel has blamed the Iranian-backed militant group for the strike on a football pitch in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The country’s security cabinet has authorised the government to decide on a wider response to the attack, the deadliest such incident in several months.
Yesterday Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the site of the missile attack to lay a wreath and warned: ‘The State of Israel will not, and cannot, ignore this. Our response will come, and it will be severe.’
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that a missile attack on a football pitch that killed 12 children will draw a ‘severe’ response from Israel
Hezbollah has denied responsibility and Iran warned of ‘unforeseen consequences’ if Israel retaliated against the Tehran-backed militia
The US, Britain and Germany have all urged their citizens against travel to Lebanon amid concerns that the country could be drawn into a wider conflict
Hezbollah denied responsibility and Iran warned of ‘unforeseen consequences’ if Israel retaliated.
The White House and the international community have urged against further escalation amid warnings it could lead to a wider conflict in the region.
Several airlines including Germany’s Lufthansa have paused or rescheduled flights into the Lebanese capital Beirut as the world waits for Israel’s response.
US official Rena Bitter advised Americans in Lebanon to ‘develop a crisis plan of action and leave before a crisis begins’.
If commercial air travel was not available, she said they ‘should be prepared to shelter in place for long periods of time’.
The Foreign Office has advised against all travel to Lebanon for weeks and said Britons already in the country should leave.
Israel’s security cabinet has authorised the government to decide on a wider response to the attack, the deadliest such incident in several months
Women grieve for the children killed, in Majdal Shams, a Druze village in the Golan Heights
Several airlines including Germany’s Lufthansa have paused or rescheduled flights into the Lebanese capital Beirut as the world waits for Israel’s response (pictured: Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut)
Germany’s foreign ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer urged their citizens to ‘use all options to leave Lebanon and to do it urgently’.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in recent months but both sides have stopped short of full-blown conflict so far.
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden warned that any escalation could be ‘much more serious’ than Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, where 110 Israeli hostages are still being held.
Asked if the Government would support an Israeli ground invasion against Hezbollah, Mr McFadden said: ‘We will always argue for Israel’s right to defend itself but we hope that cooler and calmer heads will prevail and we do not see a full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.’
