US orders evacuation of diplomats' families from Lebanon

Due to the escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah militia, the US government has ordered the evacuation of the family members of its diplomats in Lebanon.

The reason is "due to the volatile and unpredictable security situation in Beirut," the US State Department explained in a statement on Saturday.

Family members of US government employees are therefore required to leave the country unless they work for the government themselves. All employees whose tasks are classified as non-essential have been granted permission to leave.

Similar to Germany and many other Western states, the United States is also urgently calling on its citizens to leave Lebanon.