Families of Australian diplomats in Israel and Lebanon ordered to evacuate
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: The Australian government has ordered the families of Australian diplomats and officials from its missions in Lebanon and Israel due to the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East.
The government also offered voluntary departures to dependants of Australian officials posted in Jordan, Qatar and the UAE.
The context: Shared in a series of social media posts on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s (DFAT) Smartraveller account, the government warned that the security situation in the Middle East is currently unpredictable.
“Regional tensions remain high and there continues to be a risk of military conflict. Conflicts in the Middle East could result in airspace closures, flight cancellations and other travel disruptions”, DFAT warned.
It advised that Australians in Lebanon and Israel should consider leaving while commercial options to depart are still available.
The warning comes as the prospect of US strikes on Iran continues to raise tensions in the region, with US President Donald Trump using his State of the Union address on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) to repeat his threats. The two countries are due to hold indirect talks in Geneva on Thursday on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.
“My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy,” Trump said in his address, “But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon — can’t let that happen.
The sources: Smartraveller Lebanon, Smartraveller Israel
