Americans in Lebanon and Israel had to pay for their own emergency flights out of each country

As tensions between Israel and Hezbollah escalate, the U.S. State Department has advised Americans in Lebanon to leave the country. Some social media users have incorrectly compared the evacuation assistance offered to Americans in Lebanon with that offered to Americans in Israel following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, claiming that the people leaving Lebanon need to pay while those who left Israel flew out for free.

"America is offering Americans in Lebanon LOANS to pay for flights out while telling them they MUST leave is wild," an Oct. 3 Threads post says. "America has been flying out Israeli citizens on chartered flights, for a year, on our own dime — no loans needed. The hypocrisy and the racism are ghastly."

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It is true that Americans in Israel were offered chartered flights to leave the country six days after war broke out between Israel and Hamas in October 2023. But those flights were not free, as the post says.

Roughly 1,500 Americans evacuated Israel on U.S.-chartered planes after Oct. 7, 2023. People who left the country on chartered transportation were "asked to sign an agreement to repay the U.S. government prior to departure," the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem said in a security alert.

Federal law allows the State Department to use emergency funds to evacuate U.S. citizens from abroad when war, civil unrest or natural disaster endangers their lives. The law requires the transportation costs to be reimbursed through a loan.

According to the State Department, reimbursement is typically the same cost of a full-fare economy flight before the events causing the evacuation or the per-person evacuation cost, whichever is lower. The reimbursement is due within 30 days of initial billing and is subject to interest if not paid within 60 days.

After Israel launched a military ground invasion in southern Lebanon on Sept. 30, the U.S. embassy in Lebanon said in a security alert Oct. 3 that the Beirut-based embassy can provide U.S. citizens with emergency loans to relocate and direct Americans to flights with available seats to depart to a safe country.

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Since Oct. 2, more than 1,000 Americans and their family members left Lebanon on U.S.-organized flights, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said during an Oct. 8 press conference. Miller said during a previous press conference that the travel cost on U.S.-chartered flights from Lebanon to Turkey would not exceed $283 per person.

Miller added that besides the U.S.-organized flights, the U.S. State Department reserved 900 seats for Americans evacuating Lebanon on Middle East Airlines, a commercial carrier.

Middle East Airlines is the only commercial carrier still serving Beirut. Some Americans in Lebanon have complained that there is a limited supply of flights on the carrier. The price of international flights out of Lebanon has sharply increased since Israel launched a military ground invasion in southern Lebanon Sept. 30. Although the State Department has reserved seats on the carrier for Americans leaving the country, the U.S. government cannot regulate the ticket costs on the carrier, The Associated Press reported. Miller said the State Department responded to airlines canceling commercial flights out of Beirut by organizing its own flights out of Lebanon.

When we last checked Oct. 9, the earliest Middle East Airlines flight available from Beirut, Lebanon, to Istanbul, Turkey, left Oct. 26 and cost $600.

Federal law requires U.S. citizens who have been evacuated abroad to reimburse the transportation cost through a loan.

Americans who evacuated Israel on chartered planes in 2023 signed an agreement to repay the government before departing.

About 1,500 Americans evacuated Israel on chartered flights in 2023 after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. More than 1,000 Americans have left Lebanon on U.S.-organized flights since the Israeli military began its ground invasion in southern Lebanon on Sept. 30.

We rate the claim that the U.S. government is offering Americans loans to pay for flights out of Lebanon while they have been flying Israeli citizens out of Israel on chartered flights for a year "on our dime" False.