Kuwait urges citizens to leave Lebanon amid rising conflict fears

Kuwait is advising its citizens who are currently in Lebanon to evacuate. The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued an urgent directive to evacuate the region neighbouring Israel. This is due to fears of an escalation and the potential outbreak of a full-scale war between the Lebanese terrorist organisation 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 citizens to avoid travel to Lebanon.

UN Secretary-General António 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 autumn 2023, which marks the beginning of the conflict 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 organisation'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 approximately 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.