Kuwait orders urgent evacuation from Lebanon amid rising tensions
22 June 2024 06:31
Kuwait is alerting its citizens who are currently in Lebanon. The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ordered an urgent evacuation of the territory neighbouring Israel. This is all in fear of an escalation and the outbreak of a full-scale war between the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah and Israel.
The Kuwaiti agency, citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, added that citizens who cannot leave Lebanon alone should immediately contact the Kuwaiti embassy. The ministry also urged avoiding travel to Lebanon.
Fearing Israel's move
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted on Friday the increasing tension between Israel and Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon. One rash move could trigger an unimaginable disaster. We cannot allow Lebanon to become another Gaza Strip, he warned.
Since the fall of 2023, which marks the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, Iran-backed Hezbollah has been regularly shelling Israeli territory, and the Israeli army has been returning fire. Tens of thousands of civilians have been evacuated from the border areas of both countries.
In the past week, the Israeli army approved a plan for an offensive on Lebanon. At the same time, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah announced that the organization's attacks would not cease until a ceasefire is reached in the Gaza Strip.
Earlier, the Canadian authorities announced plans to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon. The country is preparing to evacuate 45,000 people, Israeli television Channel 12 reported, citing a Friday conversation between the foreign ministers of Canada and Israel, Mélanie Joly and Israel Katz. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website in Ottawa, 40,000-75,000 Canadian citizens live in Lebanon.
Note: Measurements and times were reviewed, and proper adjustments to Canadian English, flow, and understandability were made. The time was already in Eastern Time, and the metric units commonly used in Canada were since no other specified measurement units were originally provided.
