Officials sound alarm as thousands of Australians ignore advice to leave Lebanon

Thousands of Australians in Lebanon are ignoring the federal government’s advice to leave as regional tensions escalate, prompting fears their options for escape will close quickly if war breaks out between Hezbollah and Israel.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials have expressed alarm that only 400 of the more than 15,000 Australians estimated to be in Lebanon, to Israel’s north, have registered with the government. They feared a repeat of evacuations during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, which they described as a “consular crisis … seared into the minds of DFAT officers”.

Homes and buildings in Lebanon seen from the Israeli town of Margaliyot.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Hezbollah is an Iranian-backed, Lebanon-based Shia group, which Australian has designated as a terrorist organisation.0

DFAT’s warning came as the Australian government committed a further $15 million in humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip, which has been targeted by Israeli airstrikes since Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked border towns on October 7.

While the opposition raised concerns that Australian aid could be intercepted by Hamas, officials told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday that it had so far helped fund body bags for Gaza hospitals and water tanks.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the humanitarian situation in Gaza was dire and repeated her call for a pause in hostilities – which has been rejected by Israel. But she avoided being drawn into the debate about whether Israel’s actions against Palestinian civilians were illegal under international law.

Pushed by Greens senator Jordon Steele-John on whether Gaza was under siege and Palestinians were being subject to collective punishment, Wong said he was making assertions of political judgment rather than fact.

“What I would say is this is an extraordinarily difficult, complex and distressing crisis ... There is clearly widespread suffering in Gaza. There clearly is. And we know that Hamas, which is a terrorist organisation, has burrowed itself into Gaza’s population. None of this is easy. It’s tragically difficult,” she said.

Asked whether she was neither condemning nor affirming the legality of Israel’s actions, she said: “I have used the words I have used ... I understand the politics of why you’re trying to press this point … I’m not going to engage in a factual debate.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton repeated his condemnation of Hamas on Thursday, saying it was “a terrorist organisation the same as ISIS, the same as al-Qaeda” that needed to be challenged to protect Australian interests.

But Nationals whip Mark Coulton repeated his concerns about the direction of the war and the fate of innocent civilians. “I [don’t] want the support for Palestinians just to be dismissed as something from the left,” he said.

Wong said the government was working with allies to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict spilling over to the broader region while DFAT was providing consular assistance to 137 people: seven in Israel, 51 in the West Bank and 79 in Gaza.

She repeated advice that Australians should not travel to Lebanon – where clashes have unnerved civilians on both sides of the border – while those already abroad should consider taking the first available commercial departure option.

Asked by Coalition senator Simon Birmingham if that advice was being heeded, DFAT deputy secretary Craig Maclachlan said: “I think we have every indication that it’s not.”

“Frankly, the level of calls we receive in relation to Lebanon have diminished to very low numbers ... People have not, in the numbers we would like to see, decided to follow our advice and leave,” he said.

Palestinian emergency services and local citizens search for victims in buildings destroyed during Israeli air raids.Credit: Getty

“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. But we don’t have the luxury of relying on hope.”

Wong said options for assisting Australians were more limited than during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, while the number of Australians in Lebanon was greater.

Maclachlan said that in 2006 DFAT had three weeks to move 5100 Australians and 1200 foreign nationals by ferry, plane and overland through Syria. But today, overland travel through Syria was not possible, airfields were an unknown, and there were fewer ferries available in the eastern Mediterranean.

“What happened in 2006 ... was a consular crisis that you could say is seared into the minds of DFAT officers involved at the time,” he said.

The government has not been able to help the 79 Australians, permanent residents and their families leave Gaza. Wong said no foreign citizens had been able to exit through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, describing the situation as “seriously concerning”.

“[The Rafah crossing] has been one of the primary focuses of my engagement with counterparts, ambassadors and the UN,” Wong said. “It’s been proving very difficult. There are obviously many parties to this – Egypt and Israel and others.”

While some aid had moved through Rafah in the past three days, officials confirmed Wong’s view it was not enough – an opinion challenged by Israel’s ambassador to Australia, who on Wednesday said the humanitarian situation in Gaza was “fair”.

“We understand that four convoys have passed through that gate so far, with at least 62 truckloads of humanitarian supplies,” DFAT deputy secretary Rod Brazier said.

“Ordinarily, we understand, there would be 400 trucks a day going through that border. A little over 50 over the past 72 hours or slightly longer is not really going to get to address the humanitarian need that is clearly building.”

Australia’s $25 million total contribution to aid in Gaza had been shared between UNICEF for water and sanitation, the Red Cross for food, water, medical care and supplies including body bags, and the United Nations agencies for staff and essential supplies, the officials said.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.