Paris/MilanFrance and Italy on Sunday urged their citizens in Lebanon to leave the country amid the risk of a military escalation in the Middle East, their foreign ministries said.
Tensions have soared following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, on Wednesday in Tehran, a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, a senior military commander of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
In two separate travel advisories, the French Foreign Ministry has advised citizens living in Iran to temporarily leave the country in the face of the risk of its airspace being closed. The ministry had urged citizens travelling to Iran to leave the country on Friday.
The ministry also called on its citizens in Lebanon, especially those travelling there, to take advantage of the fact that there are still commercial flights available to depart.
In a message on social network X, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani urged his compatriots temporarily in Lebanon not to travel to the south of the country at all and to return to Italy as soon as possible on commercial flights, “given the deterioration of the situation.”
“We also ask Italian tourists not to travel to Lebanon,” he added.
Air France said on Saturday that it and its subsidiary Transavia were extending the suspension of their flights between Paris and Beirut until at least August 6.
French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shared concerns over rising friction in the Middle East by phone on Saturday.
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– 2024-08-05 12:33:05
