Australia has invited around 15,000 Australian citizens living in Lebanon to leave the country, citing the risk of Beirut airport being closed.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday his government had drawn up emergency plans that could include naval evacuations, without giving further details.
“We are looking at all possible options but obviously there are national security concerns,” he told Sky News.
Britain is also closely monitoring the situation and has already sent troops to Cyprus to join two Royal Navy ships already there to evacuate its citizens from Lebanon.
China yesterday has called on its citizens in Israel to leave the country “as soon as possible.” “Chinese citizens in Israel are asked to return to China as soon as possible or to go to a safe place,” the Chinese embassy in Tel Aviv said in a statement late Sunday.