The German armed forces are preparing for a “large-scale” operation to quickly remove German citizens from Lebanon and the wider Middle East, as Berlin believes Iran is set to retaliate against Israel within the week, Der Spiegel magazine and the German news agency reported.

More than 2,000 Germans are believed to be currently in Lebanon.

According to the magazine, government experts are confident that Hezbollah will launch a massive attack on Israel from Lebanon as well, and believe that it would be extremely difficult to stop the conflict from spreading since Israel would likely retaliate.

The planning of the German Ministry of Defense for the operation to rescue the Germans in Lebanon includes A400M transport aircraft, with the crews being ready for days in Lower Saxony in order to pick up nationals of the country from Beirut, transport them to Cyprus and return in Lebanon, to repeat the process as many times as necessary.

According to the federal government, it is estimated that more than 2,000 Germans are still in Lebanon. The State Department’s emergency list includes 2,100 names, but the relevant agencies estimate that there are many who have not yet registered.

Spiegel reports that the ministry expressed frustration that few took seriously the directive to leave Lebanon immediately by commercial flights. If they need to be rescued by the Bundeswehr, they will then be asked to pay the – high – cost, explains Spiegel.

The magazine also claims that the operators of the operation express their concern about the possibility that, in the event of an emergency, the airport of Beirut will be immediately closed or bombed by Israel. In this case, “receiving those in need of protection with transport aircraft would be (…) virtually impossible”, it is pointed out.

The German government’s “Plan B” provides for an expedited evacuation by sea of ​​Germans in Lebanon. In this case, the frigate Hamburg, which is en route to the Red Sea as part of the European Union’s international maritime security operation (“Shields”), could be activated. The warship is currently in waters south of Greece.

In the most recent Israel-Hezbollah war (in 2006), the federal government had rushed many Germans out of Lebanon via Syria – but that option no longer exists, after 2011.