France urges citizens to leave Lebanon in fear of Middle East escalation
Shafaq News/ On Sunday, France advised its citizens in Lebanon to leavethe country "as soon as possible" due to the risk of militaryescalation in the Middle East involving Israel and Hezbollah.
"In a highly volatile security context, we once again call theattention of French nationals, particularly those passing through, to the factthat direct commercial flights and ones with stopovers to France are stillavailable, and we invite them to make their arrangements now to leave Lebanonas soon as possible," the Foreign Ministry said in its travel advicenotice.
The US and UK authorities issued similar warnings on Saturday. The USurged its nationals to leave Lebanon on "any ticket available." Swedenalso closed its embassy in Beirut and called on its nationals to leave.
According to AFP, France estimates that some 23,000 of its citizens livein Lebanon, and last month, around 10,000 French citizens were visiting thecountry.
The advisories come amid heightened tensions and the potential forconflict in the region with Tehran, along with Hezbollah, accused Israel ofkilling Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah's top military commander, Fouad Chokor,near Beirut, vowing retaliation.
