Australians urged to leave Lebanon as government won’t be able to help them all

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has warned thousands of Australian citizens in Lebanon that the federal government will not be able to help them all escape if a full-blown war breaks out between Israel and the militant Islamic group Hezbollah.

As Israeli air strikes killed an estimated 492 people in Lebanon, including 35 children, in the country’s deadliest attacks since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed exasperation that some Australians had ignored official advice by travelling to Lebanon in recent months.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong, in the New York for the United Nations General Assembly, urged Australians to leave Lebanon. Credit: AP

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) estimates that 15,000 Australian citizens normally live in Lebanon, with more visiting at any time.

The government has drawn up plans to evacuate Australians from Lebanon – including by rented ferries if necessary – as it did during the 2006 war but is concerned demand will overwhelm supply.

“The numbers of Australians in Lebanon are beyond the capacity of the government to provide assistance to all,” Wong said from New York, where she is attending the United Nations General Assembly.

“We again say to any Australian who is in Lebanon, what we’ve been saying for months, you should return home while commercial options are still available if they are.”

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had hit more than 1300 Hezbollah targets in the biggest attack on the militant group since the Gaza war began as it tries to deter rocket attacks on the northern border.

Almost half of the scheduled flights from Beirut’s international airport were cancelled on Tuesday, with Etihad Airways announcing it would suspend all flights to and from the Lebanese capital.

Urging Australians to depart Lebanon on a commercial flight if they can, Albanese said “the fact that some people have continued to go from Australia to Lebanon in recent months is not a commonsense thing to do”.

“The government issues these warnings for a reason,” he said.

Hussan Chahoud, who migrated from Lebanon to Australia in 1977, said he was worried about the safety of his family members and his wife’s relatives in Lebanon, including Australian citizens.

Hussan Chahoud said he feared for the safety of relatives in Lebanon.Credit: Kate Geraghty

“It will probably get worse and it is citizens who will pay the price,” he said. “The last couple of weeks have been horrendous.”

He said many people in Lebanon were scared to use telecommunications devices after Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah operatives last week using pagers and walkie-talkie devices.

The Lebanese Muslim Association said in a statement that “Australian citizens and residents with families trapped in Lebanon are watching in fear as their loved ones face the terrifying realities of war”.

Accusing the government of not being tough enough on Israel for launching devastating air strikes in Lebanon, the association called on the government to “take a principled stand by condemning all acts of violence, including those committed by Israel”.

In 2006, DFAT evacuated 5100 Australians and 1200 foreign nationals by ferry, plane and overland through Syria during the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah.

DFAT officials last year expressed alarm that only 400 of the more than 15,000 Australians estimated to be in Lebanon had registered with the government despite the back-and-forth rocket fire between Hezbollah and the IDF.

“People have not, in the numbers we would like to see, decided to follow our advice and leave,” DFAT deputy secretary Craig Maclachlan said.

“There are many reasons for that. Australians have a long-term connection with family and friends in Lebanon, many are resident there. Many are hoping ... to try and avoid an escalation and regional spread of this conflict.”

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