The Saudi embassy in Lebanon, citing recent developments in the country, called on its citizens to leave and advised against traveling there, Maariv reported Saturday evening.
The Minister of Displaced Persons in the Lebanese interim government, Issam Sharaf al-Din, told the Arab News Agency that calls by Western countries for their citizens to leave Lebanon were a “preventative measure.”
Countries that have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon
In addition to Saudi Arabia, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria called on their citizens to leave Lebanon earlier this week. Kuwait also called on its citizens to leave Lebanon.
Asked whether this indicates a war, Issam Sharaf al-Din replied: “War is breaking out, but the tension is limited to southern Lebanon. These measures are being taken out of fear of reprisals rather than fear of bombing or a full-scale war.”
Al-Din reiterated statements by Hezbollah and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and placed responsibility on Israel for ending the conflict.
“(Hezbollah) set a condition for stopping the war in southern Lebanon, which is that the attacks on Gaza must stop,” al-Din said. “The issue does not depend on us, as the Lebanese government, but on the parties to the conflict, mainly Israel, which continues the war.”
