- Foreign Office: not trusting evacuation operation
The Federal Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defense have warned Germans who remain in Lebanon despite repeated exit calls that they should not rely entirely on state rescue in case of escalation. "An evacuation operation is not a packaged tour with travel cancellation insurance. It is associated with risks and uncertainties and is by no means trouble-free. And with this in mind, we continue to urge all Germans in Lebanon to leave the country immediately," a spokesperson for the Federal Foreign Office said in Berlin on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense said that refusing to leave under the guise of the Bundeswehr is fundamentally wrong and irresponsible - also towards the soldiers. Both criticized that reports since the beginning of the week about preparations and options for an evacuation have created a false impression, which has deterred German citizens in Lebanon from leaving on their own. However, the federal government has been calling for departure for months and repeatedly. According to information from Monday, 2,100 German citizens are registered on a crisis preparedness list in Lebanon. Last week, there were only 1,300 people.
The spokesperson for the Federal Foreign Office said that the situation in the Middle East is being closely monitored and coordinated with the Ministry of Defense. "We are ready to act at any time." He warned: "An exit via Syria is not an option. The port in Beirut is not fully operational and if we remember 2006, the airport in Beirut was also one of the first targets of air strikes and was then also no longer usable. Therefore, it is not very likely that there will be a quick airlift."
This is the first of three escalation levels in the event of an evacuation operation and is considered the simplest variant of an overall difficult situation. The air force sends aircraft and brings fellow countrymen home in the case of a quick airlift. In the case of a quick air evacuation, protected persons are registered at a collection point and flown out. Robust air evacuation means that people may have to be freed by force if necessary.
The German Armed Forces, often referred to as the Bundeswehr, have not been mentioned in the context of rescuing or evacuating Germans from Lebanon in the provided text. However, for the sake of generating two sentences that could potentially follow from the given text, here they are:
If the situation in Lebanon deteriorates further and a full-scale evacuation becomes necessary, the German Armed Forces may be mobilized to assist in the operation, ensuring the safe departure of German citizens. It's crucial to note that the Bundeswehr's role would be to provide support during an evacuation, not to serve as a substitute for leaving the country on one's own.
Although not stated in the provided text, it's important to stress that the role of the German Armed Forces, or Bundeswehr, in an evacuation operation would be to support and facilitate the safe exit of German citizens, primarily through the deployment of aircraft for aerial transport, just as it has done in similar situations in the past.
