• US to deploy more warships, fighter jets to Mideast
• Western governments advise their citizens to leave Lebanon

BEIRUT: Middle East tensions soared on Saturday as Iran and its allies readied their response to the assassination of Hamas’s political leader, blamed on Israel, spurring fears of a regional war.

Israel’s ally the United States said it would move warships and fighter jets to the region, while Western governments have called on their citizens to leave Lebanon — where the powerful Hezbollah movement is based — and airlines cancelled flights.

The killing earlier this week of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, hours after the Israeli assassination of Hezbollah’s military chief in Beirut, has triggered vows of vengeance from Iran and the “axis of resistance”.

Groups from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria have already been drawn into the nearly 10-month conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Iran said on Saturday it expects Hezbollah to hit deeper inside Israel and to no longer be confined to military targets.

With such talk growing, the Pentagon said it was bolstering its military presence in the Middle East to protect US personnel and defend Israel.

An aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln will replace one led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the Pentagon said. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin also ordered additional ballistic missile defence-capable cruisers and destroyers to the Middle East and areas under United States European Command, as well as a new fighter squadron to the Middle East.

In Beirut, 20-year-old student Diana Abu Aasel said she feared “something bad will happen to my family and friends”. “If there is war, I don’t think I will be able to bear staying” in Lebanon, she said.

Britain urged its citizens in Lebanon on Saturday to leave immediately, with Foreign Secretary David Lammy saying: “Tensions are high, and the situation could deteriorate rapidly.”

The US embassy in Lebanon told Americans to leave on “any ticket available to them, even if that flight […] does not follow their first-choice route”.

Sweden said it was shutting its embassy in Beirut and urged its nationals to leave the country “while they still can”. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called on Friday for an international coalition to support “Israel’s defence against Iran and its proxies”, his office said.

Airlines halt Beirut flights

Flights to Beirut by Air France and low-cost carrier Transavia France will remain suspended until at least Tuesday due to “security” concerns in the region, parent company Air France-KLM said.

The two French airlines first stopped servicing the route on Monday.

“Any resumption of operation will be subject to a renewed evaluation on the ground,” a spokesman said on Saturday, adding that passengers with reservations could rebook at no extra cost. Flights to Tel Aviv will continue as normal, he added.

The rocket strike on the Golan Heights sparked an extension of the flight suspension until Saturday, which has now been prolonged again.

Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israeli forces. German carrier Lufthansa has suspended flights until August 12.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2024