Commenting on the difference in the tone of the announcements, one Lebanese analyst described the travel warnings as “scare tactics”. 

Travel warnings over Lebanon have increased over the past couple of weeks, particularly following Israel’s attack on Beirut on July 30 that killed five civilians and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr.

The attack was followed by the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, alongside his guard, Wasim Abu Shaaban, within hours in a pre-dawn attack on July 31 in Tehran.

Hezbollah and Iran have since vowed to retaliate for the attacks, which were carried out amid an already tense regional situation that has been triggered by Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.

Several airlines from the United States and Europe have suspended their flights to Lebanon and Israel over the weekend citing security concerns. This includes German airline Lufthansa, which decided to suspend flights to Beirut and Tel Aviv until August 8 and August 12.

Social media users on Saturday also alleged that Qatar Airways suspended flights to and from Amman, Beirut and Baghdad, but the airline denied the claims in a statement. It noted that only some flights have been rescheduled.

Travel warnings and flights were initially seen last week after a rocket attack on Majdal Shams on July 27 in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights, which Israel blamed on Hezbollah and vowed to “retaliate” against.

The U.S. embassy in Lebanon had issued a statement calling on its citizens to immediately leave “should commercial air not be available, individuals already in Lebanon should be prepared to shelter in place for long periods of time”.

Other countries that issued travel advisories include the United Kingdom, France, Jordan, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Norway, Sweden among others. 

Fresh warnings were issued on Saturday, with the U.S. and UK calling on their citizens in Lebanon to “leave now” in what appeared to be a more assertive tone. 

While both countries issued travel advisories regarding Israel as it braces for a retaliatory attack by Iran and Hezbollah, they were merely cautions for their citizens. 

Commenting on the difference in the tone of the announcements, one Lebanese analyst described the travel warnings as “scare tactics”. 

“It does not issue similar warnings to U.S. citizens in Israel, as far as I know. The U.S. doesn’t care about the safety of its citizens as much as it wants to protect itself from liability and responsibility of having to evacuate citizens and all the money it will have to spend,” the Lebanese analyst, who chose to remain anonymous, told Doha News on Sunday.

‘Living in a loop of unsafety’

Lebanese expats in Qatar who spoke to Doha News last week described the initial travel warnings as merely “sensationalised threats of conflict” that only attempted to cause a state of panic in the country. 

“In my yearning to visit my homeland once or twice a year, even if only for a few days, I’ve grown weary of the fabricated rumors and sensationalised threats of conflict,” Gabrielle, a 51-year-old Lebanese expat living in Qatar told Doha News on July 30.

Gabrielle, an alias, is currently in Lebanon spending her summer vacation with her children and husband. Instead of rushing to return to Doha, she chose to “disconnec from social media” as the travel warnings emerged.

“We’ve chosen to disconnect from social media and news platforms, allowing logic and patriotism to guide us,” she said.

Hours after Gabrielle spoke to Doha News, Israel carried out the attack in Beirut. Despite the major escalatory move, she said many went back to their normal lives, noting that the Lebanese “have become immune” to such threats.

“Everybody knows, and I’m speaking in the simple present, for the fact that it has become an algorithm. Each summer by mid June, we hear promises and threats, regardless, we book, we come, we enjoy our stay with families and friends,” she said.

Like many Lebanese, Sandra, a 31-year-old expat in Doha, said the latest concerns are no different than previous ones. Notably, Lebanon witnessed numerous tragic events, from the 1975 civil war, the 2006 Israeli invasion and the 2020 Beirut Port Explosion.

“We’re living in a place that has no security to begin with, so when someone sends me a message telling me to leave the country for security reasons, I am already in the country knowing it’s not secure,” she told Doha News.

Echoing Gabrielle after the attack in Beirut, Sandra also said she has become “numb” to such events in her home country.

“[The attack was] expected to happen..it almost feels like I am living in a loop of [unsafety]. Continuously heartbroken. Innocent children died,” she said hours after the attack.

For the Lebanese analyst, the attack caused a state of panic, but people in the country still continued to go on with their daily lives, with roads busy, restaurants full, and concerts going as planned.

He noted that the resumption of daily life in Lebanon is a form of resisting Israel.

“It isn’t stated explicitly, but society is resisting Israel by showing it is undeterred by its criminal behavior. Still, I can’t deny that some people have left and cut their summer early, and there is a much higher anxiety than one or two months ago,” he explained.

‘War waged by the U.S.’

The escalations in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah were triggered by the war in the Gaza Strip on October 7, where Israel killed at least 39,573 people, mainly women and children. 

The groups in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq—widely known as the “axis of resistance”—have stepped in since the start of the war in response to the onslaught in the besieged enclave.

The attacks in Lebanon have been mainly in the south, where Israel killed more than 500 people while forcing at least 96,829 people to flee the area, many of whom moved to their relatives’ residences in other areas in Lebanon.

Lebanon has also been at the centre of misinformation under what many perceive as attempts by the West to justify any attack in the country.

The most notable example is the report by The Daily Telegraph in June, where it alleged that Hezbollah stored weaponry at the Beirut international airport. The report was met with outrage and Lebanon’s transport minister Ali Hamieh announced plans to sue the British paper.

The report was widely slammed as a “justification” to bomb the airport.

In 2006, Israel waged a 34-day war on Lebanon, killing 1,200 mostly Lebanese civilians, which ended with Hezbollah forcing Israeli soldiers out after weeks of intense attacks. The airport was one of Israel’s targets at the time of the war.

Commenting on the current safety concerns over Lebanon, the Lebanese analyst said the war is “waged by the U.S. first, Europe second, and Israel third.”

“We saw how Netanyahu paid tribute to his benefactors in the U.S. on whose behalf he wages this war. The clapping in congress was, of course, part of the consent. Israel has a blank check to wage genocide and regional war,” he said.

When asked about the possible scenario in Lebanon, he said that the move of “the genocidal enemy” can hardly be predicted.

“If it wants to escalate, then nothing can stop it so long as the U.S. bank rolls the genocide. But my guess is that the resistance does not want to escalate. So it will respond in a strong but limited way, declaring its retaliation over and framing it as a finite event with a clear end,” he said.