The German Foreign Ministry has again called on German citizens in Lebanon to either leave the country or are preparing for an emergency amid rising tensions between Israel on the one hand and Iran and its backed Lebanese group “Hezbollah” on the other hand, DPA reported, BTA reported.
A ministry spokeswoman said today that another letter has been sent to Germans in Lebanon urging them to leave Lebanon immediately, as the world awaits Tehran's reaction to the killing of two leading opponents of Israel, including a Hezbollah commander. Germans remaining in the country “may have to fend for themselves for a long period of time in a crisis zone”, the message says.
„The embassy urged people to urgently stock up on food, water, medicine and cash for several weeks,” the spokeswoman said. At the beginning of the week, there were still around 2,100 German citizens in Lebanon. The German embassy in Lebanon said that canceling passenger flights, temporarily closing airports or cutting off other options for leaving the country may not automatically lead to an immediate evacuation conducted by the German government. The diplomatic mission also pointed to other obstacles even if such an operation were to take place.
„It is not possible to return home. Even in an evacuation, you must make your way to the established point of departure. Participation in the evacuation is not free. Visa requirements remain, travel will only be possible with complete and valid documents, the embassy added.
Meanwhile in Germany itself, the authorities are on high alert. “We are closely monitoring how further escalation is likely to affect the security situation in Germany”, German Interior Minister Nancy Feser told the regional newspaper “Reinsche Post”. She added that the risk of further escalation of tensions in the Middle East is high and described the situation as “extremely dangerous”. According to her, the German government and its international partners are working to de-escalate the situation.
„After the terrorist attacks of „Hamas” against Israel on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent war in Gaza has seen a dramatic increase in anti-Semitic crimes,“ Feser said.
„Our security agencies are doing everything possible to break the spiral that leads from violence in the Middle East to even more heinous anti-Semitism here,” she added. Feser also noted that the authorities are taking decisive action against Islamism in the country, recalling the recent banning of the Islamic Center in Hamburg and its branches across the country. She also mentioned previous bans on the Palestinian armed group “Hamas” and the pro-Palestinian network “Samidun“ in Germany. Feser expressed his “sincere gratitude” to the German federal states for their continued efforts to protect Jewish and Israeli institutions in Germany through the deployment of additional police forces.