"Due to the unpredictable nature of ongoing conflict between Hizballah and Israel and recent explosions throughout Lebanon, including Beirut, the US Embassy urges US citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial options still remain available," the notice says.
The department warned that the number of commercial flights out of Lebanon had already been reduced, and if the security situation continued to deteriorate, departure options might not be available at all.
"The US Embassy may not be able to assist U.S. citizens who choose to remain," the State Department warned.
On September 17 and 18, communication equipment, including pagers and radios, detonated in various areas of Lebanon. According to official data, 37 people were killed and more than 3,000 were wounded. Among the victims was Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani. It is not yet known what caused the simultaneous explosion of thousands of devices. Hezbollah, the Lebanese government and Iran have blamed the incident on Israel. The Israeli authorities have neither confirmed nor denied their involvement. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called what happened in Lebanon a monstrous act of terrorism and an attempt to ignite a major conflict.