Americans have been told to flee Lebanon now before flights are grounded after Hezbollah threatened to escalate Israel-Hamas conflict.

It comes as the US Embassy warned that there would be ‘no guarantee of evacuations in crisis situation.’

The State Department issued the recommendation on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.

‘The @StateDept recommends that U.S. citizens in Lebanon leave now while commercial flights remain available due to the unpredictable security situation,’ they wrote.

They said there are ‘available flight options at Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport’ linking to the website.

Americans have been told to flee Lebanon now before flights are grounded after Hezbollah threatened to escalate Israel-Hamas conflict

‘Have a plan of action for crisis situations that does not rely on U.S. government assistance,’ the continued. 

‘The best time to leave a country is before a crisis, if at all possible. U.S. military-assisted evacuations of civilians from a foreign country are rare.

‘There is no guarantee the U.S. government will evacuate private U.S. citizens and their family members in a crisis situation.’

It comes as Israeli forces clash with Hezbollah fighters along the border as the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza rages on.

Israeli warplanes conducted airstrikes along the border with Lebanon Saturday as the militant Hezbollah group attacked several Israeli army posts, including one that was struck with two large rockets.

The escalation came a day after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said his powerful group is already engaged in unprecedented fighting along the Lebanon-Israel border. 

He threatened a further escalation as Israel’s war in Gaza with Hamas, Hezbollah’s ally, nears the one-month mark.

Hezbollah is prepared for all options, Nasrallah declared, ‘and we can resort to them at any time.’

Hezbollah said in a statement that its fighters attacked at least six Israeli posts along the border, saying ‘suitable rockets and weapons’ were used. It added that ‘direct hits were scored and technical equipment was destroyed.’

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The Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV network reported that Hezbollah fired Saturday two Burkan rockets, which carry heavy warheads, at an Israeli post known in Lebanon as Jal al-Allam. 

A Lebanese security official confirmed the report of Burkan rockets being used for the first time.

The rockets, whose name means ‘volcano’ in Arabic, were previously used by Hezbollah and Syrian government forces to destroy the fortifications of Syrian opposition fighters.

They are one of a number of types of rockets and missiles that the heavily armed Hezbollah has in its arsenal.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reported that fighters shot down a spy balloon that Israel’s military posted over the northern town of Misgaf Am.

On the outskirts of the village of Rmeish, in a rugged area along the border, an Israeli airstrike caused thick gray smoke. Artillery shelling could be heard from a distance.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported airstrikes around several other border villages, including Labbouneh and Hibarieh.

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X that Israeli warplanes, tanks and artillery fired toward the source of fire on the Lebanese side of the border.

It also targeted some Hezbollah arms depots, infrastructure and posts used by the Lebanese militant group. 

Hezbollah started attacking Israeli positions on Oct 8, in the disputed Chebaa Farms area along Syria’s Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and within days the attacks spread to cover the whole border area.

On Saturday Hezbollah said one of its fighters was killed along the border raising the total death toll for the militant group since the fighting began to 56. 

Ten civilians, including a Reuters journalist, were killed as well as several Palestinian fighters.

Iran-backed Hezbollah is closely aligned with Hamas and concerns are growing that the regional conflict could escalate.

Nasrallah, previously praised the vicious and bloody attack Hamas launched on Oct 7 which saw more than 1,400 people, most of them Israeli civilians, killed and hundreds of others taken hostage.