The situation in the Middle East is nothing less than a powder keg, as Israel announces limited strikes in Lebanon and new attacks from Hezbollah terrorists happening by the day.

According to The Hill, White House national security communications adviser John Kirby was asked whether or not American citizens should be thinking about evacuating as the situation intensifies.

Kirby was careful to at least caution Americans in Lebanon that if they have the means to evacuate and feel safer doing so, to do it while the option still exists.

The worry comes as Hezbollah confirmed that its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed over the weekend, prompting new threats from the Iran-backed terrorist organization.

What was he asked?

"And if the situation does escalate, we certainly hope it does not, are you absolutely certain we are prepared to get Americans out of Lebanon … or even Israel? Completely prepared?" ABC's Martha Raddatz asked.

She added, "I know, I hate to look back on this, but Afghanistan, no preparation. I know it’s very different. But are you confident you could do it this [time]?"

Kirby assured Raddatz and others in the room that contingency plans exist should the situation escalate to the next level.

"We have contingency plans for evacuations in just about every corner of the world, Martha, and we are — everything that we are doing, everything that Secretary [Lloyd] Austin is doing at the Defense Department is to make sure we have the requisite capability and the planning and preparation capability available to us," Kirby said.

"So, we are working our way through that," Kirby continued.

"I would add that right now, the State Department does not feel a need for that. That — that there are still commercial operations, commercial air traffic that is getting out of Beirut and are still available to those Americans that want to leave."

Ground operation

In late-breaking news, Israel launched a "limited" ground invasion in Lebanon on Monday. The situation immediately made headlines as it's unclear how Hezbollah will retaliate.

Fox News reported that Israeli troops "began a limited, localized ground operation targeting Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah on Monday evening."

WOW!

The Israeli Air Force has just bombed the headquarters for Hezbollah in Lebanon.

I stand with Israel! pic.twitter.com/H6J4Y5brkA

— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) September 27, 2024

Only time will tell if the situation escalates yet again and if the State Department decides to do mandatory evacuations.