In the last few hours, the Middle East conflict has spread to Lebanon, with a series of Israeli attacks that have already left hundreds dead and more than 1,600 injured. The situation is increasingly tense in the region. Late yesterday afternoon, the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, announced that more than 650 “blue helmets” of the Spanish armed forces had suspended their patrols in the south of the country and reduced their activity to a minimum. He also affirmed that, despite everything, “the morale” of our soldiers was “very good”, even if many of them had taken refuge in bunkers at the beginning of the Israeli attacks.
Late last night, sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “an evacuation plan is being planned” in case it becomes necessary for the nearly a thousand Spanish citizens who are in Lebanon, most of them dual nationals. “At the moment, the Spaniards in Lebanon are our first priority. We have in our consular register about a thousand Spaniards registered, we have their telephone numbers and they are perfectly identified. There is an evacuation plan, as we have for all countries, which is not activated at the moment but, of course, if circumstances justify it, we will not hesitate to activate it“, explained later the head of Spanish diplomacy, José Manuel Albares.
From New York, where he met in recent hours with EU foreign ministers, on the eve of the UN General Assembly, Albares reiterated this Tuesday, in an interview with La Sexta, that the government had “everything is prepared and ready” in case it is necessary to evacuate “quickly” to the colony of Spaniards who are in Lebanon, who are, in the face of the escalation of tensions in the country that the Minister of Foreign Affairs described as “very serious” and “historic”, with figures of deaths and injuries that have not been seen in the last 30 years.
Regarding the Spanish contingent of the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL), called “blue helmets”, this decision corresponds to the United Nations and, for the moment, to the international organization “does not envisage” a withdrawal of troops deployed to maintain peace on the border between Lebanon and Israel. In any case, the Spanish minister assured that in the coming days, the “different scenarios” will be analyzed to be “prepared for any eventuality” that may arise. In fact, the minister discussed this issue yesterday with the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Secretary-General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, and he will do the same on Thursday with the head of UN peace operations, Jean-Claude. Pierre Lacroix.
The situation in Lebanon is far from calming down and this afternoon, the Israeli army chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, announced that Israel would “accelerate offensive actions” against Hezbollah. “The situation is very worrying. The bombings are blind and the troop movements towards northern Israel are enormous,” Albares said, while calling for de-escalation and respect for international law. “We are here (in the United States) to defend international order and law; so that we all think together about what we must do to make peace definitive, and that is called a two-state solution,” the minister stressed.
Albares has advised against traveling to Lebanon “under any circumstances” and urged Spanish citizens who are in the country to leave the territory immediately. The Spanish government has been advising against traveling to Lebanon for months. Yesterday, they remembered it again and updated these recommendations on the ministry’s website. Today, more than 30 flights have been suspended at the country’s international airport.
