{"id":14902,"date":"2023-10-24T00:02:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T07:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=14902"},"modified":"2023-10-25T00:06:31","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T07:06:31","slug":"u-s-readies-plans-for-mass-evacuations-if-gaza-war-escalates-the-washingon-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=14902","title":{"rendered":"“U.S. readies plans for mass evacuations if Gaza war escalates”, The Washingon Post"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Officials said that the more than 600,000 Americans living in Israel and Lebanon are of particular concern, but they stressed that an operation of such magnitude is a worst-case scenario<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Yasmeen Abutaleb,\u00a0Dan Lamothe,\u00a0John Hudson\u00a0and\u00a0Michael Birnbaum October 23, 2023 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Biden administration is preparing for the possibility that hundreds of thousands of American citizens will require evacuation from the Middle East if the bloodshed in Gaza cannot be contained, according to four officials familiar with the U.S. government\u2019s contingency planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The specter of such an operation comes as Israeli forces, aided by U.S. weapons and military advisers, prepare for what is widely expected to be a perilous ground offensive<\/a> against Hamas militants responsible for the stunning cross-border attack that has reignited hostilities. The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to detail internal deliberations, said Americans living in Israel and neighboring Lebanon are of particular concern, though they stressed that an evacuation of that magnitude is considered a worst-case scenario and that other outcomes are seen as more likely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, one official said, it \u201cwould be irresponsible not to have a plan for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a ground war in Gaza could look like<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The administration, despite its forceful public support for Israel, is deeply alarmed by the prospect of escalation, and in recent days it has turned its attention in part to the complicated logistics of abruptly having to relocate a large number of people, according to three people familiar with the discussions. There were about 600,000 U.S. citizens in Israel and another 86,000 believed to be in Lebanon when Hamas attacked, according to State Department estimates.
The concern in Lebanon is chiefly over Hezbollah, a political party and militant group that, along with allies, currently controls the largest number of parliamentary seats. It entered parliament in 1992. It has long accepted training and weapons from Iran, prompting concerns that it could attack Israel from the north, creating a two-front war that would stretch Israeli forces. Already, there have been skirmishes along their shared border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israeli tanks fired shells toward southern Lebanon on Oct. 15, following reports of a strike launched from within Lebanon against the Israeli town of Shtula. (Video: Reuters)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis has become a real issue,\u201d one official <\/strong>said. \u201cThe administration is very, very, very worried that this thing is going to get out of hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skip to end of carousel<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel-Gaza war<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

\"\"(Mohammed Saber\/EPA-EFE\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamas released two Israeli hostages<\/a>\u00a0into Red Cross custody Monday as the death toll in the Gaza Strip passed 5,000.\u00a0Follow live updates<\/a>\u00a0and here\u2019s\u00a0what\u2019s behind the war between Israel and Hamas<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The administration\u2019s concern extends beyond those two countries, as officials watch the street protests that have spread across the Arab world, putting both U.S. personnel and citizens in the region at heightened risk. The bombardment of Gaza has inflamed regional fury at Israel and its treatment of Palestinians \u2014 an issue some officials believed no longer carried as much importance in the Arab world.
\u201cThe street to a large extent is now in charge,\u201d said Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former official in the Clinton administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were told for the last 10 years that the Arab world and Muslim world didn\u2019t care about Palestine anymore, and Abraham Accords were proof of that,\u201d Riedel added, referring to agreements, signed by the governments of Sudan, Morocco, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, aimed at normalizing relations with Israel. \u201cWell, Palestine has come back. I don\u2019t think it ever went away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 5,000 people in Gaza, mostly civilians and children, have been killed amid unrelenting Israeli airstrikes since the Oct. 7 attacks, Palestinian health officials say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the Biden administration tried to slow Israel\u2019s invasion of Gaza<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top U.S. officials have not wanted to discuss such contingency planning in public, hoping to avoid setting off a panic among Americans in the region. But their posture has shifted in recent days to convey the anxiety about other actors entering the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, the State Department issued an advisory to all U.S. citizens worldwide \u201cto exercise increased caution\u201d due to \u201cincreased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, [and] demonstrations or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The warning was in response to demonstrations that have erupted in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict and broader anger in the Arab world over Washington\u2019s full political, economic and military backing of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on the scale of a potential U.S. evacuation, it could be more difficult than any previous operations in recent memory, experts said. It could involve Air Force aircraft or Navy warships, which have surged to the region this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith 600,000 Americans in Israel and threats to other Americans across the region, it\u2019s hard to think of an evacuation that might compare to this in scale, scope and complexity,\u201d said Suzanne Maloney, the director of foreign policy at the Brookings Institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe sort of advisories the State Department has put out lately have been fairly blunt,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, the Pentagon signaled, too, that it is bracing for a significant increase in attacks on U.S. troops in the Middle East, and the department singled out Iran for its extensive sponsorship of militant groups with a long history of using rockets and drones to target American military positions. In response, Pentagon officials said, they are surging additional missile-defense systems to the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters that a \u201cbroader escalation\u201d is possible \u201cin the days ahead.\u201d Senior military leaders, he said, are taking \u201call necessary measures\u201d to safeguard U.S. personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Particularly vulnerable are the estimated 3,400 troops deployed in Iraq and Syria, where earlier in the day U.S. personnel based near the Jordan border intercepted at least two one-way attack drones, officials said. Americans operating in those countries have been targeted for years by Iranian-backed militias, including Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraq-based group that claimed responsibility for\u00a0some of the previous attacks<\/a> disclosed over the last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. intercepts missiles near Yemen as troops face drone attacks in Middle East<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t necessarily see that Iran has explicitly ordered them to take these kinds of attacks,\u201d Ryder said. \u201cThat said, by virtue of the fact that they are supported by Iran, we will ultimately hold Iran responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s unclear how many times deployed personnel have come under fire since the Israel-Hamas crisis began Oct. 7. Officials said that the Pentagon was compiling a list of confirmed incidents but that the effort had been hampered by what one senior defense official called the profusion of \u201cdisinformation and misinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No U.S. personnel are known to have been killed or seriously injured in any of the spillover violence. An American contractor in Iraq did suffer a fatal heart attack last week as troops and others at the Ain al-Asad air base raced to take cover from what proved to be a false alarm of an incoming attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Dadouch in Beirut and Missy Ryan contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CORRECTION<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A previous version of this article incorrectly said that Hezbollah has controlled Lebanon since 1992. It entered parliament that year. The article has been corrected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel-Gaza war<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Hamas released two Israeli hostages<\/a> into Red Cross custody Monday as the death toll in the Gaza Strip has passed 5,000. Follow live updates<\/a> and here\u2019s what\u2019s behind the war between Israel and Hamas<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talk to The Post: <\/strong>How have your conversations around Israel and Palestine changed? Are some relationships challenged? We want to hear from you<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hostages:<\/strong> Israeli officials say Hamas militants abducted about 200 hostages in a highly organized attack<\/a>. Four hostages have been released \u2014 two Americans<\/a> and two Israelis<\/a> \u2014 as families hold on to hope<\/a> and plead for the safe return of their loved ones<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humanitarian aid: <\/strong>President Biden has urged officials to allow humanity aid through the Rafah border crossing <\/a>into Gaza, while U.S. aid faces hurdles<\/a> to reaching those in need. The U.N. and other charities are also calling for a cease-fire<\/a> to allow aid to civilians. The blockade on the Gaza Strip has been in place since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israeli-Palestinian conflict:<\/strong> The Hamas<\/a>-controlled Gaza Strip has a complicated history<\/a>, and its rulers have long been at odds with the Palestinian Authority<\/a>, the U.S.-backed government in the <\/strong>West Bank. Here is a timeline of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Officials said that the more than 600,000 Americans living in Israel and Lebanon are of particular concern, but they stressed that an operation of such magnitude is a worst-case scenario By\u00a0Yasmeen Abutaleb,\u00a0Dan Lamothe,\u00a0John Hudson\u00a0and\u00a0Michael Birnbaum October 23, 2023 The Biden administration is preparing for the possibility that hundreds of thousands of American citizens will require […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14902"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14902"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14903,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14902\/revisions\/14903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}