US State Department Raises Travel Advisory for Lebanon 

Protesters clash with Lebanese security forces outside the US Embassy during a demonstration in solidarity with the people of Gaza in Awkar, east of Beirut, after a strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip killed at least 200 people on October 17, 2023. (AFP)
Protesters clash with Lebanese security forces outside the US Embassy during a demonstration in solidarity with the people of Gaza in Awkar, east of Beirut, after a strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip killed at least 200 people on October 17, 2023. (AFP)
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US State Department Raises Travel Advisory for Lebanon 

Protesters clash with Lebanese security forces outside the US Embassy during a demonstration in solidarity with the people of Gaza in Awkar, east of Beirut, after a strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip killed at least 200 people on October 17, 2023. (AFP)
Protesters clash with Lebanese security forces outside the US Embassy during a demonstration in solidarity with the people of Gaza in Awkar, east of Beirut, after a strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip killed at least 200 people on October 17, 2023. (AFP)

The US State Department has raised the travel advisory for Lebanon, urging people not to travel to the country “due to the unpredictable security situation related to rocket, missile, and artillery exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah or other armed militant factions.”

The advisory issued on Tuesday also urged people to reconsider travel to Lebanon “due to terrorism, civil unrest, armed conflict, crime, kidnapping” and the US Embassy in Beirut’s limited capacity to provide support to US citizens.

The State Department authorized the voluntary, temporary departure of family members of US government personnel and some non-emergency personnel from the US Embassy in Beirut due to the unpredictable security situation in Lebanon.

The advisory was hiked to Level 4, “Do not travel” — the highest level — from Level 3, “Reconsider travel.”



Britain’s Top Diplomat Says Israeli Govt Has Told Him Its Military Operation in Lebanon Will End Soon

Search and rescue team members try to search for possible victims at a damaged building after an Israeli airstrike, in Tyre, Lebanon, 28 October 2024. (EPA)
Search and rescue team members try to search for possible victims at a damaged building after an Israeli airstrike, in Tyre, Lebanon, 28 October 2024. (EPA)
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Britain’s Top Diplomat Says Israeli Govt Has Told Him Its Military Operation in Lebanon Will End Soon

Search and rescue team members try to search for possible victims at a damaged building after an Israeli airstrike, in Tyre, Lebanon, 28 October 2024. (EPA)
Search and rescue team members try to search for possible victims at a damaged building after an Israeli airstrike, in Tyre, Lebanon, 28 October 2024. (EPA)

Foreign Secretary David Lammy told lawmakers on Monday that he spoke to his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, on Sunday and “he sought to reassure me that the operation that is currently under way, the targeted operation by the Israelis, would come to an end shortly, as he put it.”

Britain has called for ceasefires in Israel’s campaigns against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. Lammy conceded that peace efforts had failed so far, but said “it is never too late for peace, never too late for hope. This government will not give up on the people of the region.”

He urged Israel to let more aid into Gaza, saying “there is no excuse for Israel’s government’s ongoing restrictions on humanitarian assistance.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer was meeting Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati at 10 Downing St. on Monday to express UK support for Lebanon.