Lebanon says IOF strike to be ‘limited’; US not to evacuate citizens
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According to the Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, Lebanon was not given clarity on what a "limited response" would entail.
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Lebanese citizens carry the coffin of a Hezbollah fighter killed in Israeli strikes in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahyeh, Lebanon, on November 4, 2023. (AP)
Despite its continued warmongering, the US has reported it is not planning on evacuating US citizens from Lebanon amid fears of a wider war instigated by "Israel".
Diplomatic efforts have attempted to avert an escalation fearful that a larger battle may see the involvement of Hezbollah's backers beyond Lebanon's borders, prompting unanticipated repercussions.
Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told CNN that Beirut had obtained "assurances" from unidentified international actors that "Israel's" planned strike would be "limited" in a way meant to prevent a larger war.
However, Lebanon, according to the FM, was not given clarity on what a "limited response" would entail.
"To us, this means they will not hit the southern suburbs of Beirut, or the airport, which would surely lead to war," Bou Habib reported.
According to a State Department official, the US has no plans to evacuate US nationals from Lebanon, even though a rising number of airlines are canceling Beirut flights.
During a news conference, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said, “We don’t have any plans for, or an announcement as it relates to, an evacuation or efforts for private US citizens from Lebanon."
"Commercial flights, some of them continue to remain available, and so we encourage American citizens to look into those options," he told reporters.
Patel also reiterated advice to Americans in Lebanon to enroll in a traveler program that will allow them to receive important messages about safety conditions and other factors that may affect them, explaining that the State Department issued a Level 3 travel advice for all of Lebanon.
He also indicated that US nationals should "reconsider travel" and a Level 4 "do not travel" alert for southern Lebanon specifically.
Rena Bitter, the Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs, stated that the US Embassy in Beirut issued a "crisis plan of action" for US nationals in Lebanon in a fresh social media post on Monday.
This included a warning to "shelter in place for long periods of time," as the country prepares for an Israeli strike under the guise of a response to an Iron Dome failure that killed 12 Syrians in the occupied Golan.
Kirby: Diplomacy being used to prevent Lebanon-'Israel' war
The White House is aware of an Israeli strike but is attempting to limit the crisis to the greatest extent possible, US officials told Axios.
The US is "confident" about avoiding a larger war between the Israeli occupation and the Lebanese Resistance, Hezbollah, despite blaming the latter for carrying out the recent attack on the occupied Golan Heights, the White House stated on Monday.
US and Israeli officials spoke at "multiple levels" over the weekend following the attack, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said, adding that the prospect of a full-fledged confrontation is "exaggerated".
Kirby's remark implies that the administration is attempting to tone down the situation while discreetly working behind the scenes to avert a major flare-up.
Israeli regime authorities claimed on Saturday afternoon that Hezbollah launched a rocket at the occupied town of Majdal Shams, killing twelve civilians, including 10 children, in the process.
The US continues warmongering and accusing Hezbollah in Lebanon of carrying out the recent attack while simultaneously claiming it does not want tensions to escalate on the Palestinian-Lebanese border.
While US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yet again claimed that all signs indicate that the rocket was hit by Hezbollah, without revealing any evidence in this regard or even footage, he revealed that he was in talks with "Israel", emphasizing that the situation in the occupied Palestinian North must not escalate.
Meanwhile, Israeli media described the Israeli threats to the Resistance in Lebanon as "void".
Roi Sharon, a military affairs analyst for the Israeli Kan channel, said that the Israeli threats are "futile" as he recalled the [empty] threats that the occupation leaders have been issuing for months.
He stressed that the threats of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Security Minister Yoav Gallant, and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi of "sending Lebanon back to the Stone Age" and "regretting the day they were born" are empty as they do not achieve any results, being void, which is "evident".
