Thousands of Australians in Lebanon have been urged by the federal government to leave immediately amid warnings there is no guarantee the country’s main airport will remain open.
Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Tim Watts told the ABC today he understood there were about 15,000 Australians in the Middle Eastern country.
While he said many had deep family links with Lebanon, they should be wary of the Israel Hamas conflict potentially spreading through the region.
“I understand the deep roots and sort of the reluctance to leave but our strong advice to Australians in Lebanon is take the option to leave now,” Watts said.
“We can’t make any guarantees that for example, Beirut airport will remain open if the conflict spreads to the south of Lebanon and at that point, departure options become much more complex and much more difficult.
“We’re really strongly encouraging Australians in Lebanon, take the opportunity now to leave because we don’t know what their situation is going to look like in the coming days, in the coming weeks.”
“It may become much more difficult to leave and again may become much more difficult for the Australian government to assist you to leave.”
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Fighting continues on Lebanon’s southern border with Israel where Hezbollah — a Lebanese armed group backed by Iran — has its main base.
Israel has ordered the evacuation of communities along the Lebanese border.
Watts said that 65 Australians remain stranded in Gaza.
Overnight a number of Australians who have been trapped in the territory were able to cross into Egypt after the crucial Rafah border crossing opened for the first time after more than three weeks of siege.
At least 20 Australians had been among the 300 that crossed the border.
