Evacuations in Lebanon move into high gear

In another sign that the present war in Lebanon is destined to last for awhile, evacuations of foreign nationals in Lebanon are preceeding at a fast pace.

This morning, a ferry chartered by France took 1,200 Europeans to Cyprus. and nearly 400 people arrived on an Italian navy vessel on last night. British warships are standing by to transport up to 12,000 Britons and a further 10,000 people with dual British-Lebanese nationality to Cyprus.

US military helicopters have started flying Americans to Cyprus, and a commercial ship is due to move another 25,000 people to safety. Five US warships and 2,200 Marines are also en route to Lebanon to secure the evacuation of US citizens.

The UN is evacuating all non-essential staff and their dependents...I wonder if that includes the 2,000 or so famous blue helmeted UNFIL `peacekeepers who were supposed to prevent Hezbollah from attacking Israel and guarantee border security? G-d knows they've been `non-essential' since they were deployed in Lebanon!

Israel has apparently agreed to halt its air strikes on Hezbollah targets near where tens of thousands of foreigners are waiting to be lifted out of Lebanon, mainly at Beirut harbor. However, this could leave Hezbollah free to use the evacuees as human shields for firing its long-range missiles at Israel. And Beirut harboris the the best site for Hezbollah to launch missiles against Israel’s heavily populated coastal cities.

Hezbollah might also attack the evacuees on their way to the rescue ships or during embarkation - and then accuse Israel.

Speaking of Israel, there is very little if any evacuation of foreigners or Israeli nationals with dual citizenship going on. As one member of Joshua's army in Haifa put it "things are very tense and it is a balagan (mess), but we are very strong."

Indeed they are.