Australia issues travel warning for Lebanon as conflict heightens

20 Oct 2023

9News

The Australian government has updated its travel advice for Lebanon to "do not travel", warning against travelling to the country.

It cited "the volatile security situation and the risk of the security situation deteriorating further".

The government urged Australians wishing to leave to depart by commercial aircraft as soon as possible.

"Airports may pause operations with little notice due to heightened security concerns," the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Smartraveller site said.

"This may cause flight delays or cancellations for a sustained period. The Australian Government's ability to assist you to depart Lebanon will be very limited in a deteriorating security situation."

The move comes after similar travel advisories were issued by the US and British governments.

The military wing of Hamas said its members fired 30 rockets from south Lebanon into northern Israel on Thursday, mainly targeting the towns of Nahariya and Shlomi.

The Qassam Brigades' statement came after Lebanon's Hezbollah group said it hit several Israeli army positions and a kibbutz along the border with missiles.

Israeli forces also shelled border areas on the Lebanese, an Associated Press journalist in southern Lebanon said.

Smoke rises after a shelling in Um el-Tot, a Lebanese border village with Israel, south Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Smoke rises after a shelling in Bustan, a Lebanese border village with Israel, south Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Tension has been rising along Lebanon's southern border since the October 7, attack by Hamas on southern Israel. At least 12 Hezbollah fighters have been killed since in Israeli shelling and airstrikes.

Denmark, Sweden and Norway joined Australia in further tightening travel advisories for Lebanon and cautioned against travel there until further notice.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said overnight that Norway was "tightening the travel advice due to the serious security situation in the region. There are daily military actions on the border between Lebanon and Israel. This increases the risk throughout Lebanon".

Eide noted that flights were still available from Beirut but that "at short notice, it may become even more difficult to leave Lebanon".

Protesters chant slogans during a demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza, near the U.S. embassy in Aukar, a northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023 (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Denmark's Foreign Ministry said the security level in Lebanon had been changed to red.

"Staying in Lebanon entails a very high security risk," the ministry said. It "strongly encouraged" Danish citizens in the country to leave.

Sweden's travel advice was updated late Wednesday (Thursday AEDT).