France urges its citizens to depart Lebanon “as soon as possible” due to the elevated military tensions in the Middle East.

France encourages citizens to leave Lebanon

France has urged its citizens, especially those passing through, in Lebanon to leave “as soon as possible” due to a “highly volatile security context,” announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday, August 4. Paris had already been “strongly urging” its citizens not to travel to Lebanon due to the risks of military escalation in the Middle East.

Concerns of escalating tensions

Calls for leaving Lebanon increased on Saturday with the United States embassy urging its citizens to take any available flight out. Britain’s Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, sent a clear message to British citizens to leave Lebanon immediately. Sweden also closed its embassy in Beirut and urged its citizens to depart amidst the tensions between Hezbollah and the Israeli army.

Recent clashes and rocket attacks

Tensions between Hezbollah and the Israeli army reignited on the Lebanese-Israeli border on Friday following a period of calm after the killing of Hezbollah’s military commander, Fouad Chokr, in an Israeli strike in Beirut. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for firing rockets toward northern Israel overnight on Saturday-Sunday, targeting the colony of Beit Hillel with dozens of rockets. The Israeli army reported intercepting thirty projectiles from Lebanon, with no injuries reported. Israeli forces struck the Hezbollah site in southern Lebanon from where the missiles were launched.