The general staff of the French army announced that a French navy ship set sail yesterday Monday from southeastern France “to station off the Lebanese coast as a precaution in case France is forced to “evacuate its nationals from Lebanon”.
The Authority explained that the French amphibious helicopter carrier BHA left the port of Toulon, heading to the Eastern Mediterranean, noting that its journey will take 5 to 6 days to reach the region.
According to the French general staff, the aircraft carrier already on its way is “equipped with helicopters and a combat group which will be mobilized in the event that it is forced to evacuate French citizens”.
“We are strengthening our resources to deal with the deterioration of the situation,” declared a senior official of the general staff, quoted by Agence France-Presse, without however specifying the name of the ship.
France has three amphibious helicopter carriers: “Mistral”, “Dexmod” and “Tonnerre”. Each weighs 21,500 tonnes and is 199 meters long. They act as “floating ports” that can accommodate hundreds of people.
Around 23,000 French, or Franco-Lebanese, reside in Lebanon. The French embassy in Lebanon has set up a telephone response cell which operates seven days a week, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said yesterday during his visit to Beirut, the capital.
Israel informed the United States yesterday that it intended to conduct “limited” ground operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to the US State Department, and also established a “closed military zone” around 3 areas of northern Lebanon, on the border with Israel. .