Calls for nationals to leave Lebanon: Leave, yes ... but how?

Salwa* was supposed to travel from Beirut at the end of July for a vacation with her two children. But last Tuesday, a few hours before the strike on a building in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which killed a senior Hezbollah military commander, Fouad Shukur, along with five civilians, her flight was canceled. The Franco-Lebanese woman booked another one, but once again, she could not board. "Initially it was to go on vacation, but I gave up. All I want now is to get my children to safety," she said.

In recent days, more and more embassies, including those of France, the United States and the United Kingdom, have been calling their nationals to leave Lebanon, as the risk of regional escalation has increased after the strike on the southern suburb and the assassination the next day of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

On Sunday, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on its nationals to "leave Lebanon as soon as possible" while "commercial flights and flights with stopovers to France are still available," while the Air France-KLM group had stated on Saturday that it was extending the suspension of its flights to Lebanon "at least until Aug. 6 inclusive" due to the security situation.

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"I am very angry about the Foreign Affairs Ministry's statement. There are no flights, and it's false when they say there are direct flights … It's absurd to make such an announcement! They really take us for fools," fumed Salwa, who is trying by all means to book a ticket. "I'm trying to find one with any possible connections, whether via Turkey or Jordan, but either it's overpriced, or we have to wait long hours during a layover, or even spend the night at an airport, which is impossible with young children," she said over the phone. Finally, "the earliest flight I found is for Aug. 9, passing through Istanbul."

Salwa is not the only one facing these obstacles. "British nationals in Lebanon must leave now," declared the Foreign Office on its X account on Sunday. "We are trying to do so," responded Sirine G. on the social network. Like many others, she explained facing flight cancellations.

"Middle East Airlines claims there is no availability before Aug. 12 and that the price difference is at least $1,000 per seat in economy class," she lamented, calling on British authorities to contact Mohammad Hout, CEO of the Lebanese airline, to "increase flights to London, as many are connecting with the United States or Canada (most passengers are therefore not British nationals but Americans or Canadians who are also leaving), or to send larger planes."

Outrageous prices

Nathan*, a German studying at the American University of Beirut, saw his flight to Berlin, scheduled for this Monday, canceled. The young man wanted to spend his summer vacation in the German capital and return at the end of August. He finally booked another flight for next Friday, for $230 more. "There are fewer and fewer seats available, and prices are rising," he explained, expecting his new flight to be canceled as well. "If that's the case, I'll stay in Lebanon. I don’t feel that unsafe. I think the embassy warnings are exaggerated."

Lara*, on the other hand, found a flight scheduled for ... two weeks later. After seeing the American embassy's appeal to its nationals in Lebanon, this Lebanese expatriate in the United States says she felt "pressure" to book a return flight. But it was impossible to find an affordable ticket for the coming days. A one-way ticket costs more than $2,000. "It was too expensive for me," she says. She finally found another one-way ticket for about $1,000.

Chelsea*, a Briton who has lived in Lebanon for a year, found a flight for Monday. For months, her family has been urging her to return to England, but to no avail. Everything changed for the 25-year-old woman when the British embassy asked its nationals to leave Lebanon "immediately," in concert with other foreign embassies. "It made me realize that I might need to start listening to the advice," she said. But on the booking site, she noticed that the prices of the same flight kept increasing. "One went from $900 to about $5,000," she recounts. "And every time I selected one, it disappeared. It happened several times. It was very stressful." Finally, her one-way flight will cost around $1,400. "At first, I was afraid of being stuck in Lebanon, and now I fear I won’t be able to return."

*Names have been changed