US announces ‘immigration reprieve’ due to Lebanon conflict

WASHINGTON: Washington will allow some Lebanese nationals to temporarily remain in the United States and apply for work authorization due to unsafe conditions in their home country, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday.
The so-called Temporary Protected Status designation will provide an “immigration reprieve” to eligible Lebanese due to the “ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in Lebanon,” the department said in a statement.
Those who are approved “will be able to remain in the country while the United States is in discussions to achieve a diplomatic resolution for lasting stability and security across the Israel-Lebanon border,” it added.
Hezbollah began low-intensity attacks on Israeli troops a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered war in the Gaza Strip.
The Lebanon conflict has rapidly escalated in recent weeks, with Israel carrying out extensive strikes at both the border and further inside the country and launching ground operations inside its neighbor to the north.
The United Nations recently said one quarter of Lebanese territory was under Israeli military displacement orders, while the International Organization for Migration has said at least 690,000 people have been displaced by the conflict.
A German warship deployed as part of the UN’s peacekeeping force in Lebanon has shot down a drone off the Lebanese coast, the German army said Thursday.
“An unidentifiable unmanned aerial vehicle was detected in the vicinity” of the “Ludwigshafen am Rhein” corvette and was “brought down in a controlled manner,” an army spokesman said.
The spokesman said he was unable to provide further details for “reasons of operational security.”
Andrea Tenenti, a UNIFIL spokesman, confirmed that earlier on Thursday “an unmanned aerial vehicle of unknown origin approached one of UNIFIL’s Maritime Task Force ships off the southern Lebanese coast.”
“In accordance with procedure, electronic countermeasures were used and the UAV fell and exploded on its own,” Tenenti said, adding that UNIFIL was “looking into the matter.”
The UN’s peacekeeping force in Lebanon has come under repeated fire in the Israeli-Hezbollah war in recent days.
Five peacekeepers were injured in a series of incidents last week, with the latest seeing the UN force accuse Israeli troops of breaking through a gate and entering one of their positions.
The Israeli military has said is not targeting UN peacekeepers, but the incidents have sparked a wave of international criticism.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was set up in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon to stem Palestinian attacks targeting northern Israel.
The peacekeeping mission includes about 10,000 personnel overall, with its Maritime Task Force focused on preventing arms smuggling by sea.