Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

story

American Evacuation From Lebanon Nearly Complete, U.S. Consul Says

Associated Press
Published | Updated

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Most Americans who want to leave Lebanon have done so and U.S. evacuation efforts are nearly complete, the U.S. consul said Sunday as Navy hovercraft whisked remaining Americans to ships anchored in Beirut's harbor.

U.S. Consul William Gill also urged any holdouts considering leaving to make up their minds quickly as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas continued for a 12th day.

Click here to read more about what Americans in Israel and Lebanon are experiencing.

"The U.S. Embassy is urging all Americans who wish to depart Lebanon to do so now. Please do not wait for a phone call," he said in a taped statement broadcast on AP Television News. "We are now in the latter stages of transporting Americans who wish to depart Lebanon. We believe most Americans have done so."

The U.S. State Department said late Saturday that more than 10,000 of the estimated 25,000 Americans in Lebanon have fled since July 16.

Click here to read more about humanitarian efforts aimed at victims of the conflict.

U.S. officials, were distributing Gill's message to media outlets in hopes of reaching any Americans holed up in their homes, stressed that evacuation was not mandatory.

Meanwhile, Americans were ferried in groups of 150 out to the USS Trenton anchored in Beirut's harbor as it prepared to leave for Cyprus later Sunday. The troop transport vessel has a capacity for 1,800 passengers, but it was uncertain how many people would be on board at departure.

Click here to read the U.S. Embassy posting.

The USS Nashville also was ready to take up to 1,000 evacuees. And an Italian-owned commercial ship, the Victoria M, was under contract with the U.S. government and poised to take more Americans, if needed.

Some 3,000 Americans could be evacuated from this war-torn country Sunday, but officials were unsure whether that many would turn up.

Click here to view a timeline of the current conflict.

Visit FOXNews.com's Mideast Center for more in-depth coverage.