Lebanon’s capital has been shelled since Monday as part of wider Israeli military strikes into the country, which have killed more than 630 people, and injured more than 1,600.
Cross-border attacks by Israel and Hezbollah have left tens of thousands of people displaced on both sides.
With Israel’s military indicating it could launch a ground invasion in coming days, Mr Harper told the his family would take any evacuation flights but currently there were no options.
He said his calls to the UK embassy in Lebanon had gone unanswered, telling the they were rerouted to a UK desk.
It’s estimated there are up to 6,000 UK nationals including dependents in Lebanon – some of whom have managed to secure last seats on departing commercial flights this week.
But Mr Harper’s concerns echo those of many British nationals in Lebanon who say they have made the decision to leave or are trying to leave but cannot get on planes.
International airlines have stopped flying in and out of the Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport, the country’s only commercial airport, leaving only Middle East Airlines, Iraqi Airways and Iran Air operational.
If the situation escalates into an invasion or strikes near where they had moved to now, Mr Harper said his family would also consider evacuating via sea – a route already being pursued by some Britons.
The spoke to one student on Wednesday who said she was fleeing north to the city of Tripoli, from where she would attempt to get a boat out of the country to Turkey.
Mr Harper said he considered his family’s situation fortunate compared to other areas in Lebanon – given they were living in areas “where it’s very unlikely the war will get there”.
He feared for his friends in the south, he said, in areas that have borne the brunt of Israeli army’s strikes which have also targeted the Bekaa Valley region in the east and in parts in the capital too.
From their home in Monte Verde, a 20-minute drive from the city centre and half an hour from the country’s airport, his family had heard the explosions.
It is considered a safe area but “the noises of the sonic boom have made us feel afraid, have made the children feel afraid and we are worried that it can escalate. And it could be a ground invasion or similar to [the] 2006 [war].”
Having lived in Lebanon for over two decades, he and his wife, who is Lebanese, had heeded warnings first issued by Western countries last October to get out of the country – they had travelled to the UK during the summer and came back only last week “because school was starting and it was looking reasonably calm.”
“A lot of people have said ‘well, why haven’t the Brits left? Well, we can’t leave indefinitely so that’s one thing. Our lives are here.”
