Australian defence force personnel who are already deployed to the Middle East may be called on to help in an evacuation operation from Lebanon.
The Federal government has stepped up its warnings for Australians to take commercial flights to leave Lebanon while they still can and says it may not have capacity to help everyone if the crisis worsens.
At least 15,000 Australians are estimated to be in Lebanon, although the government does not have exact numbers.
Australian ministers have previously cautioned that a Lebanon evacuation operation would be far more difficult and complex than the one undertaken during the 2006 war, when about 5,300 Australians left with direct government support.
The ADF chief of joint operations, Vice-Admiral Justin Jones, said: “Under Operation Beech, the ADF has a small number of personnel deployed to the region to support whole-of-government contingency planning and Defence remains postured to support future requirements.”
PM Anthony Albanese said his government had been warning Australians “for months” to leave Lebanon. The prime minister confirmed that “we do” have contingency plans in place, but he emphasised the practical obstacles.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, was asked whether evacuation to Cyprus was part of the planning. She said Australia was “looking at the full range of options in terms of contingency options”.
“Obviously we will continue to work with partners about what arrangements can be made, but I again say the numbers would render it unlikely that we would be able to help all Australians who are in Lebanon,” Wong said on the sidelines of meetings in New York.
Wong said the Australian government condemned Hezbollah’s “continued attacks on Israel” but added: “Lebanese civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hezbollah, so all parties should be show restraint, de-escalate and comply with UN security council resolutions.”
Asked whether Israel had justification for a ground invasion of Lebanon, Wong said: “I would say that Lebanon cannot become the next Gaza.”