France urges citizens to leave Lebanon in fear of Middle East escalation

Shafaq News/ On Sunday, France advised its citizens in Lebanon to leave the country "as soon as possible" due to the risk of military escalation in the Middle East involving Israel and Hezbollah.

"In a highly volatile security context, we once again call the attention of French nationals, particularly those passing through, to the fact that direct commercial flights and ones with stopovers to France are still available, and we invite them to make their arrangements now to leave Lebanon as soon as possible," the Foreign Ministry said in its travel advice notice.

The US and UK authorities issued similar warnings on Saturday. The US urged its nationals to leave Lebanon on "any ticket available." Sweden also closed its embassy in Beirut and called on its nationals to leave.

According to AFP, France estimates that some 23,000 of its citizens live in Lebanon, and last month, around 10,000 French citizens were visiting the country.

The advisories come amid heightened tensions and the potential for conflict in the region with Tehran, along with Hezbollah, accused Israel of killing Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah's top military commander, Fouad Chokor, near Beirut, vowing retaliation.