US prepares to evacuate Americans from Lebanon if fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalates

TEL AVIV The Pentagon is moving U.S. military assets closer to Israel and Lebanon to be ready to evacuate Americans as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies, according to three U.S. defense officials and a former U.S. official familiar with the plans.

The USS Wasp, an amphibious assault ship, and Marines from the 24th Special Operations Capable Expeditionary Unit moved Wednesday to the Mediterranean to join the dock landing ship USS Oak Hill and another ship in their amphibious ready group, according to the Marine Corps. The Wasp will operate in the eastern Mediterranean to be ready for an assisted military departure and other missions, officials said.

The Wasp and Marine Expeditionary Unit are also intended to project military power and act as a deterrent to regional escalation, according to a U.S. official familiar with the plans.

This decision comes as tensions continue to rise and cross-border shootings increase between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. U.S. officials are increasingly concerned that Israel is carrying out airstrikes and a possible ground offensive in Lebanon in the coming weeks, the officials said.

Smoke from an Israeli strike on a Hezbollah target in Khiam, Lebanon, on Wednesday. Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Despite pressure from the Biden administration, Israeli officials have remained steadfast in their desire to go after Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to U.S. officials familiar with the conversations. Israel hopes to create a 16-mile buffer zone above the Lebanese border, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.

Israel wants to keep Hezbollah from the border and is pushing for a diplomatic solution, but if that doesn't work, the Israel Defense Forces are prepared to use force, an Israeli official said.

The aim is to restore calm in northern Israel so that 60,000 Israelis who fled in the past eight months because of Hezbollah rocket fire can return home, the official said.

Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit are trained to help civilians escape dangerous environments. The Wasp also has offensive and surveillance capabilities, and can deploy F-35s, long-range stealth fighters.

The United States is also talking with close allies to coordinate evacuations and possible coalition military operations, according to U.S. defense officials.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant traveled to Washington, DC, this week to meet with senior Biden administration officials.

Iran and its Hezbollah proxies do not seek an all-out war with Israel and prefer the current situation, which puts Israel under international pressure, according to current and former U.S. and Western officials. The fighting in Gaza and the north is exhausting the Israeli military, fueling internal political divisions and stoking tensions with Israeli allies.

U.S. officials continue to say they do not yet see evidence that a major escalation is imminent, but warn that it only takes a single strike or miscalculation to quickly escalate the situation. The pressure on Israel from its northern citizens to act is very real, a US official said. Israeli officials feel the need to do something, a US official said. They believe that the status quo is unsustainable.

The United States evacuated 15,000 people in 2006

On Thursday, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut warned Americans that they should reconsider traveling to Lebanon. The security environment remains complex and can change quickly, the alert warned.

The State Department estimated that 86,000 Americans lived in Lebanon in 2022. In 2006, the United States evacuated 15,000 people from the country during the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Many humanitarian organizations have already evacuated their dependents from Lebanon, according to a source close to the matter.

The CBC reported that Canada is preparing contingency plans to evacuate about 20,000 Canadians from Lebanon and that allied military leaders met Tuesday to discuss options.

Canada is preparing contingency plans to evacuate about 20,000 Canadians from Lebanon, officials in Ottawa said.

Canada's Department of National Defence said the Canadian Armed Forces are in contact with allies and like-minded countries, monitoring the global landscape for emerging threats that could result in requests for support to Canadians and Canadian interests.

Asked whether the United States is taking additional precautions in the region as tensions escalate between Israel and Hezbollah, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday: “This is something we are watching very closely. We continue to monitor. We are also changing force protection procedures and protocols as the threat evolves.”

In a statement, White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said that restoring calm along the Israeli-Lebanese border remains a top priority for the United States and must be of the utmost importance to Lebanon and Israel. We continue to work toward a diplomatic resolution that would allow Israeli and Lebanese citizens to return home safely and live in peace and security.

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