State Department urges Americans to flee Lebanon as unrest over Hezbollah spreads across Mideast

The State Department is ordering the families of embassy personnel in Beirut to depart and advising American citizens to flee Lebanon as the Israel-Hezbollah conflict escalated with a series of devastating missile strikes this weekend.

“Due to the increased volatility following airstrikes within Beirut and the volatile and unpredictable security situation throughout Lebanon, the U.S. Embassy urges U.S. citizens to depart Lebanon when commercial options still remain available,” the department announced Saturday evening in a travel advisory.

The announcement came as images and video emerged on social media of violence outside the US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, where protesters waged their dissatisfaction with the Israeli missile strike that killed the leader of Hezbollah on Friday  

The United States wasn’t alone in changing its security posture. Germany said it also was evacuating embassy family members and reducing staff in Lebanon.

In a statement, the German foreign ministry said it had decided "to raise the crisis level for the missions in Beirut, Ramallah and Tel Aviv.”