France joins countries urging citizens to leave Lebanon as regional tensions mount

[Edge Guerrero]

French nationals are pressed to leave Lebanon “as soon as possible” amid a “highly volatile security context.”

France on Sunday called on its nationals in Lebanon to urgently leave the country, amid heightened fears of a regional war in the Middle East following the killing of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders last week, attributed to Israel.

"In a highly volatile security context ... we invite [French citizens] to make arrangements now to leave Lebanon as soon as possible," the French foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that some commercial flights from Beirut to France were still available.

France is the latest Western country to urge its citizens to leave Lebanon, as renewed regional tensions following last week's Israel-orchestrated killing of a Hezbollah commander in the Lebanese capital have reignited fears that the long-running conflict between Israel and the militant group could turn into an all-out war.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for "dozens" of missile strikes carried out against Israel overnight, calling them retaliation for previous Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, French-language Lebanese daily L'Orient-Le-Jour reported.

The U.S., the U.K. and Sweden have issued similar recommendations to leave Lebanon. In a statement on Saturday, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy pressed U.K. citizens in Lebanon to "leave now" as "the situation could deteriorate rapidly."

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani Sunday afternoon urged Italians temporarily in Lebanon not to travel to the south of the country and to return to Italy as quickly as possible by commercial flights.

"Given the worsening situation, we invite Italians who are temporarily staying in Lebanon to absolutely not travel to the south of the country and to return to Italy with commercial flights as soon as possible," Tajani said in a post on X.

Several airline companies have suspended flights to and from Beirut due to the worsening security situation, including French operators Air France and Transavia France, and German flag carrier Lufthansa.

https://www.politico.eu/article/france-lebanon-hezbollah-hamas-israel/