US Mulling Mass Evacuation Of Its Citizens From Middle East Amid Escalating Tensions Over Gaza War: Report

Biden administration said it was preparing for the possibility of evacuation US citizens from Middle East with major concerns in Israel and Lebanon as tensions grow over Gaza war.

US preparing for possibility of evacuating citizens from Middle East

Source : Getty Images

The Biden administration is preparing for the possibility of evacuating hundreds of thousands of US citizens from the Middle East if the bloodshed in Gaza does not contain, reported Washington Post citing officials. The mulling comes as Israeli forces, aided by US weapons and military advisers, prepare for a ground offensive against Palestinian militant group Hamas following its surprise attack on Israel on October 7. 

The Americans living in Israel and neighbouring Lebanon are of particular concern, said the officials, who spoke to the publication on condition of anonymity. The officials, however, stressed that an evacuation of such a magnitude is considered a worst-case scenario and that other outcomes are seen as more likely, the report added. 

An official, however, said, “It would be irresponsible not to have a plan for everything.”

As per the State Department estimates, there were about 6,00,000 US citizens in Israel and another 86,000 are believed to be in Lebanon when Hamas attacked. 

The major concern in Lebanon is over the terror group Hezbollah which, along with allies, currently controls the largest number of parliamentary seats which it entered in 1992. The group has long accepted training and weapons from Iran, prompting concerns that it could attack Israel from the north, creating a two-front war that would stretch Israeli forces.

There have already been reports of skirmishes along their shared border, the report added. 

"This has become a real issue," an official was quoted as saying, adding: "The administration is very, very, very worried that this thing is going to get out of hand."

The Biden administration’s concern extends beyond these two countries as official watch the street protests that have spread across the Arab world, “putting both US personnel and citizens in the region at heightened risk,” 

The airstrikes over Gaza have fueled regional fury against Israel its treatment of Palestinians -- an issue some officials believed no longer carried as much importance in the Arab world.

"The street to a large extent is now in charge," said Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former official in the Clinton administration.

"We were told for the last 10 years that the Arab world and Muslim world didn't care about Palestine anymore, and Abraham Accords were proof of that," Riedel added, referring to agreements, signed by the governments of Sudan, Morocco, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, aimed at normalising relations with Israel.

"Well, Palestine has come back. I don't think it ever went away," Washington Post quoted him as saying.