The number of nations advising their citizens to leave Lebanon is growing rapidly as the prospect of all-out war between Israel and Lebanon’s Iranian proxy, Hezbollah, looms closer.
Kuwait was the first to warn its citizens not to travel to Lebanon at present, and to urge those who were already there to leave.
Canada followed with similar warnings, and deployed military forces to the region in anticipation of the necessity to carry out a sudden evacuation of its own nationals.
Now Germany, Netherlands, Russia and North Macedonia have followed. All have instructed their citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible, using commercial flights “while they are still available.”
Germany’s warning added that escalation could cause a total halt in air traffic to Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport, “making it impossible to depart the country by air.”
The warnings are not misplaced: The airport is certainly likely to be a target, as it is currently doubling as a weapons depot for Iranian arms deliveries to Hezbollah.
The terrorist organization is storing massive amounts of Iranian weapons at Rafic Hariri International Airport, Lebanon’s main civilian airport in Beirut, according to a report published Sunday by the British Telegraph news outlet.
The airport is located in the southern suburbs of Beirut about five and a half miles (nine kilometers) from the center of the Lebanese capital.
At present, it is the only operational commercial airport in Lebanon and serves as the hub for Lebanon’s national carrier, Middle East Airlines (MEA).
