US urges citizens to reconsider traveling to Lebanon

The United States on Monday reminded its citizens of reconsidering travel to Lebanon amid the growing military escalation on its southern borders. In a press briefing, Deputy State Department Spokesperson Vedant Petal reminded that the country of Lebanon as a whole currently is at the travel advisory warning level of level three, reconsider travel, but the specific region of southern Lebanon is at a level four. It's at a level four, do not travel level, as is Lebanon's border with Syria, as well as refugee settlements throughout Lebanon. "We also encourage that in Lebanon, that US citizens have their own departure plans in place, and we don't have any announcement to make on any evacuation of private citizens from Lebanon," Petal said. "But what I can say is that the US government remains diligent in planning and preparing for any and all possible emergency contingencies." He emphasized that restoring the calm along the blue line, it continues to remain a top priority for us and it must be of utmost impor tance to Lebanon and Israel as well. "We continue to be concerned by the level of violence and we're continuing to work towards a diplomatic solution that would allow Israeli and Lebanese citizens to return their homes and live in peace and security," he concluded Source: Kuwait News Agency