State Department urges U.S. citizens to get out of Lebanon

October 1, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Share this:

BOROUGHWIDE — BROOKLYN’S SIGNIFICANT LEBANESE COMMUNITY has been drawn into international concerns as the U.S. State Department urges American citizens to depart Lebanon “while commercial options still remain available.”

Israeli airstrikes targeted Beirut and security is tenuous. If Americans can’t evacuate, “be prepared to shelter in place,” the department said in its latest Lebanon Travel Advisory issued Sept. 28, days before Iran’s Tuesday launch of missiles at targets in Israel.

The advisory reads, “Do Not Travel to Lebanon due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, unexploded landmines and the risk of armed conflict.”

Brooklyn’s Lebanese community, with a strong presence in Bay Ridge, maintains many ties to the country’s politics, traditions and culture. Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Cathedral in Brooklyn Heights has served as the center of Maronite Lebanese in the city since the 1840s, and Lebanese Jews have also found a home here.

✰✰✰