Treasurer Jim Chalmers is urging Australians not to travel to Lebanon, expressing concern about wider conflict after portable devices exploded inside the country.
On Tuesday, thousands of pagers, allegedly purchased by the militant organization Hezbollah five months ago, exploded in southern Lebanon.
with the Lebanese Health Ministry reporting that 32 people were killed and at least 3,450 injured in the two waves of explosions.
Chalmers warned that the “remarkable scenes” could lead to a further deterioration of the country’s security situation and have wider implications for the region.
“For us more generally, from an Australian perspective, we are gravely concerned about the human consequences of an escalation of an ever-widening regional conflict in the Middle East,” he said on Thursday morning.
“I think it’s another reminder to Australians: don’t go to Lebanon.
“We’ve been saying this for a while now. Make sure you don’t go near Lebanon, it’s a dangerous place for Australians to visit right now and we’re seeing that in some of this footage.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong echoed Chalmers’ concerns, saying Australians should use commercial flights still available to get home.
The Australian government’s Smartraveller platform updated its advisory for Lebanon on September 18, encouraging travelers to “depart immediately.”
“The security situation could deteriorate rapidly across Lebanon with little or no warning,” the site reads.
With many airlines postponing or canceling flights, the government advises Australians to “take the first available flight and not wait for a preferred route”.
he said the attacks represented a “disgusting” escalation of regional tensions.
“The horrific pager attack that killed nine people, including a child, and left thousands injured across Lebanon is exactly the kind of disgusting war that the people of Naarm/Melbourne were protesting against. The perpetrators must be called to account to answer for it,” he said.
Although Israeli officials have not commented on the explosions, a senior Lebanese security source claims that the Israeli spy agency Mossad was behind the attacks.
The official told Reuters that Mossad, which has a long history of sophisticated operations on foreign soil, planted explosives inside pagers imported from Hezbollah months before Tuesday’s detonations.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant confirmed that the army is moving troops and resources to the north, where Lebanon borders Israel.
Australia, along with the United States, Israel and numerous other countries, consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization.