‘Leave immediately’: Australia warns citizens over travel to Lebanon

Australia joins the US, UK and Germany in stark warnings over travel to Lebanon as Benjamin Netanyahu vows a ‘severe’ response to the Hezbollah attack that killed 12 Israeli children.

The Australian government has advised Australians not to travel to Lebanon and warned citizens in the country to leave while commercial flights remain available.

Australia has joined the US, UK and Germany in stark warnings over travel to the region as Israel vows retaliation for a Hezbollah strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children.

“We continue to advise that Australians do not travel to Lebanon,” Smartraveller said. “Australians in Lebanon should leave immediately while commercial flights remain available.

“Some airlines have postponed or cancelled flights this week. Further cancellations and disruptions could occur with little or no notice. The Australian Government may not be able to assist you to leave in such circumstances.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to deliver a “severe response” on Monday after he visited the site of the attack in the Druze town of Majdal Shams.

“These children are our children; they are all the children of all of us,” Mr Netanyahu said, adding: “Israel will not and cannot let this simply pass on by. Our response will come, and it will be harsh.”

Israeli officials told Reuters the IDF was preparing for the possibility of a few days of fighting with Hezbollah. A source told Reuters: “The estimation is that the response will not lead to an all-out war … That would not be in our interest at this point.”

However the US is confident that a wider war between Israel and Hezbollah can be avoided the White House says, as Israel reiterates that while it wants to “hurt” the Iran backed terror group, it doesn’t want an all-out war.

US and Israeli officials had conversations at “multiple levels” over the weekend following the attack and the risk of a full-blown conflict is “exaggerated,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

“Nobody wants a broader war, and I’m confident that we’ll be able to avoid such an outcome,” Kirby said in a call with reporters.

“We all heard about this ‘all-out war’ at multiple points over the last 10 months, those predictions were exaggerated then, quite frankly, we think they’re exaggerated now.”

David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, said he spoke to President Pezeshkian of Lebanon and welcomed his call to stop the fighting. “We both agreed that widening of conflict is in nobody’s interest,” he wrote on Twitter/X.

Regional tensions are soaring after the attack in the annexed Golan Heights that Israel and the United States have blamed on Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

Passengers depart Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut amid soaring tensions. Picture: AFP.

Mr Kirby said the latest attack should not have a bearing on talks for a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel is carrying out a military offensive against the Iran-backed Hamas Palestinian militant group.

“We don’t see any indications at this point in time here, on Monday morning, that there’s going to be a significant impact,” Mr Kirby said.

The Pentagon said US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant, discussing the Majdal Shams attack and “threats still facing Israel from a range of Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah.”

The two officials talked about “the opportunity to finalise a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza,” as well as efforts to reach “a diplomatic solution in the north that stops all attacks and allows citizens on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border to return home safely,” the Pentagon said in a statement.