State Department issues worldwide caution to US citizens; embassy in Lebanon tells Americans to flee

The U.S. State Department issued an alert Thursday afternoon advising Americans worldwide to "exercise increased caution." Extra to this general warning, U.S. citizens in Lebanon have been told by the embassy in Beirut to hightail it out of the country if possible.

In its announcement, the State Department said that Americans abroad should "stay alert in locations frequented by tourists"; "enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive information and alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency overseas"; and "follow the Department of State" on social media.

The reasons given for this worldwide caution were increased tensions, the potential for terrorist attacks, and "demonstrations or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests."

The State Department has recommended that U.S. citizens should especially exercise vigilance if located in Egypt, Iraq, Muscat, Oman, and America's supposed NATO ally Turkey.

These warnings come nearly a week after the State Department told travelers headed to Israel, the West Bank, or Gaza to "maintain a high degree of situational awareness[,] exercise caution at all times" and to identify the "location of the nearest bomb shelter."

The risk to westerners appears to have grown in Arab nations in recent days, as evidenced by the swarming of American, Israeli, French, and British embassies, reported the Telegraph.

Within hours of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stating, "The flames of the U.S.-Israeli bombs, dropped this evening on the Palestinian victims injured at the ... hospital in Gaza, will soon consume the Zionists," hordes gathered outside the British and French embassies in Iran, with some chanting "death to France and England."

Amid threats of fire farther afield, rioters in Beirut nearly set the U.S. embassy ablaze. Palestinian flag-waving and stone-throwing rioters managed to torch a neighboring building, but U.S. embassy spokesman Jake Nelson later indicated that "embassy personnel and facilities remain secure and undamaged," reported Reuters.

The New York Post indicated police had to deploy tear gas to disperse the rioters, but not before one demonstrator could scale the outer fence to attach a Palestinian flag to the embassy's flagpole.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut updated its travel advisory for Lebanon Wednesday, stressing, "Do not travel."

"We urge U.S. citizens not to travel to Lebanon. We recommend that U.S. citizens in Lebanon make appropriate arrangements to leave the country; commercial options currently remain available," the embassy noted on X. "We recommend that U.S. citizens who choose not to depart prepare contingency plans for emergency situations. ... U.S. citizens who need assistance should contact the U.S. Embassy in Beirut at BeirutACS@state.gov or +961-4-543-600."

For Americans whose confidence wasn't shaken after the Biden administration's botched Afghanistan withdrawal, the embassy further underscored the need to "have plans to depart that do not rely on the U.S. government."

The trigger for the latest anti-Western hostilities was the accusation by the Hamas-run Gazan Health Ministry that Israel had bombed the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza and killed hundreds.

Various Western media outfits helped stoke the fire by parroting the terrorist-linked ministry's claims, which have since been discredited. The New York Times, for instance, ran a front-page story entitled, "Israeli Strike Kills Hundreds in Hospital, Palestinians Say."

The New York Times has since reported that American officials have since come to agree with Israel's assessment that the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Islamic Jihad had launched a missile that malfunctioned.

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