Only a fraction of the 86,000 Americans and green card holders living in Lebanon have been able to evacuate with U.S. aid as bombings intensify around Beirut.
The State Department says it has made about 5,000 seats available for American citizens on both commercial and charter flights, but there's a catch. Many may have to leave their families behind as they have to make their way to the airport on their own amid regular bombing raids.
As a result, only about a quarter of the seats were filled by the 1,100 Americans, lawful permanent residents and families flying on 10 U.S.-sponsored flights, supporters said.
Since July, the United States has issued a Level 4 “do not travel” advisory to Lebanon, urging people to leave their homes.
On September 27, the State Department announced it would not evacuate Americans, leaving airlines to charge exorbitant fees of $5,000 to $8,000 per seat. The ministry has since claimed that it will help arrange flights at affordable rates.
Approximately 8,500 Americans have sought information and evacuation assistance from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, “We will continue to operate the aircraft for the time being because we believe there is a demand for it.'' “We believe we have an obligation to do everything we can to help American citizens leave the country.”
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But human rights lawyer Maria Cali argues these efforts are futile without a non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO) to bring in U.S. troops and evacuate Americans.
“A few months ago, the writing was on the wall that the situation in Lebanon was starting to collapse,” she told Fox News Digital.
Kari said many of the Lebanese U.S. citizens and green card holders she works with have family members who do not have U.S. passports and refuse to leave the area without parents or children. spoke.
“The Beirut embassy has made it clear that it is not accepting any new visa applications,” she said.
Kali said the U.S. should extend the same protections it has for Israeli-Americans seeking to flee the region after Oct. 7 and allow immediate family members of American citizens to obtain visas. said.
She told the State Department, “You're not talking about how you're contributing to the problem of why planes aren't full. You're not talking about how you're contributing to the problem of why planes aren't full. I'm not talking about what isn't.” In the last few days, the area around the airport, including roads and residential buildings near the airport, has been bombed, right? ”
Beirut's only international airport is within five miles of Hezbollah's stronghold.
When citizens contact the embassy, they receive a response similar to the one shared with Fox News Digital: “At this time, we are assisting U.S. nationals currently in Lebanon and Only U.S. or their immediate family members with a valid visa and a Lebanese passport can travel to Turkiye without a visa.
“It's absolutely ridiculous that America thinks it's OK to take Americans and their non-American relatives and drop them off in Turkey. Foreign governments have no responsibility to Americans or to the Lebanese people.” she said. “It's another example of the failure of the current administration to protect Americans, first in Gaza and now in Lebanon.”
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On October 19, 2023, the U.S. government created a visa waiver program for Israeli-American families seeking refuge with their loved ones following the outbreak of war.
“We did the right thing there. We have consistently failed to do the right thing for other classes of American citizens and their relatives,” Cali said.
The security situation in Lebanon is rapidly deteriorating amid Israel's ground invasion of Hezbollah's strongholds, but the Biden administration has expressed the need to declare a non-combatant evacuation in order to bring in U.S. troops to evacuate Americans. Haven't decided yet.
This is reminiscent of Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 2006, when the United States brought in military personnel to ensure the safe exit of approximately 15,000 American citizens from Lebanon. At that time, the Israel Defense Forces bombed Beirut's international airport and roads.
“The airport is open, but it's not open indefinitely. Israel attacked the airport directly last time, and I think they're under pressure not to do it this time, but that pressure is no longer on the White House's side. It's not effective. Come on,'' said Zeb Finetouch, director of investigations and intelligence at an international security firm. Global Guardian.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, about 2,000 people have been killed in the Israeli attack on the country. It is not clear how many of them were Hezbollah militants, but the figure includes 127 children and 261 women.
The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, about a quarter of the country's population.
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