Foreign embassies announce precautionary measures amid fears of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah
BEIRUT: Foreign embassies in Lebanon continued to take precautions on Saturday amid fears of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelati expressed his country's “deep concern over the dangerous escalation” in the region in a telephone conversation with his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib. Abdelati reaffirmed Egypt's support for Lebanon in “countering the threats around it,” Egypt's foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
Egypt's statement came as the United States and Britain urged their citizens in Lebanon to leave the country immediately.
Despite the suspension and cancellation of flights, “commercial transportation options for departure from Lebanon remain available,” the US Embassy said.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said tensions were “high and the situation could quickly deteriorate”.
The Swedish Embassy recently announced that it will transfer its staff to Cyprus for security reasons.
As tensions escalated, several airlines canceled or extended the suspension of flights to Beirut. Dutch carrier Transavia Airlines extended the suspension of flights to and from Beirut until Tuesday, as did Air France. Kuwait Airways is suspending flights to and from Beirut from Monday.
On Saturday, the Israeli army resumed killings of Hezbollah members in southern Lebanon and on the Beirut-Damascus road, as Israel awaits Hezbollah's response to Tuesday's killing of its top military commander, Fuad Shukr.
One Israeli airstrike targeted a residential building in a southern suburb of Beirut, killing seven civilians, and an Israeli military drone targeted a car on Al-Bazuriya road in Tyre, setting it on fire and killing the driver. Hezbollah identified the victim as Naziha Abed Ali from the southern village of Aytit. It is reported that the victim was the brother of paramedic Mahmoud Abed Ali, who rushed to the scene of the attack. Videos circulating on social media show Mahmoud at the site, a few kilometers from Aitit, saying that “crying is forbidden” and that he will collect the remains of his brother “who is a father of three”.
The Public Health Operations Center confirmed that one person was killed and two others were injured in the attack.
A few hours later, the Syrian Observatory announced the death of a man in an Israeli raid targeting a vehicle on the Damascus-Beirut road.
Israel also expanded its military operations towards the Lebanese-Syrian borders on Friday night and Saturday morning. Israeli warplanes struck the vicinity of Al-Qusair and the Al-Dabaa military airport.
Israeli forces also raided the Matrab crossing, an illegal crossing used by Hezbollah to transport trucks and members from Lebanon to Syria and vice versa.
Israel also targeted a convoy of trucks in the vicinity of the Hosh al-Said Ali district, killing a Syrian driver, AFP reported.
Israeli shelling of houses in the border villages, including Rab Al Talatin, Houla, Tair Harfa, Aita Al Shaab and Mais Al Jabal, resulted in the destruction of property but no casualties.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it launched a rocket attack on Israeli military positions, including “Al-Asi, Al-Summaq in the occupied Kfarshuba Hills, a military base in the Avivim settlement and a building used by Israeli soldiers in Mattat.” settlement”.
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah vowed to take “decisive measures” at Shukr's funeral and warned Israelis that they would “be left with tears instead of laughter.”
Multiple security sources said Hezbollah had evacuated locations in Beirut's southern suburbs as a precaution, including houses where party officials live.
Since the fighting began on October 8, the total number of casualties among Hezbollah, its allies and civilians, both Lebanese and non-Lebanese, is 521.
Israeli media on Saturday reported an “unusual incident in northern Israel, specifically in the settlement of Liman in the Upper Galilee, where a man tried to sneak into Lebanon.” The man's identity has not been released.
