Did the U.S. urge its citizens to leave Lebanon and urgently evacuate its embassy in Beirut? No, that's not true: The U.S. Embassy in Beirut has issued a statement saying it is open and operating normally. Since July 13, 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Consular Affairs has instructs U.S. citizens to reconsider travel to Lebanon. Additional advisories are to avoid the area of the Lebanon-Israel border and to avoid large gatherings or protests.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X (formerly Twitter) on October 11, 2023, by @Sprinter99800. It reads:
America called on its citizens to urgently leave Lebanon and urgently evacuate their embassy in Beirut.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut responded to the rumor with a post on X (archived here) the same day:
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut has not evacuated and is open and operating normally. Reports saying otherwise are false. For more information and travel advisories, visit our embassy website:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Wed Oct 11 21:28:13 2023 UTC)
The post links to an October 10, 2023, statement published on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon that advises:
U.S. citizens throughout the region should continue to take caution, as advised in the October 9 regional security alert. As advised in the Travel.State.Gov Lebanon Travel Advisory, U.S. citizens should avoid travel to the Lebanon-Israel border area. In all parts of Lebanon, you should avoid demonstrations and exercise caution if in the vicinity of any large gatherings or protests.
The Travel.State.Gov Lebanon Travel Advisory, issued on July 13, 2023, is rated a level three out of four levels, with level three being "Reconsider Travel" and level four being "Do not travel." There are some specified areas in Lebanon that have a level four travel advisory -- the border with Syria, the border with Israel and refugee settlements.
Other Lead Stories articles on claims pertaining to the 2023 Hamas-Israel conflict are here.
