Supporters of Hezbollah in Lebanon march during a religious procession to mark Ashura in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, July 29, 2023. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo
BEIRUT, Aug 5 (Reuters) – Lebanon’s interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Saturday there was no cause for “concern or panic” over his country’s security situation, after Germany and the Gulf countries issued new travel warnings after outbreaks of violence.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Germany and Britain updated their travel warnings amid clashes between rival armed groups in the Palestinian camp of Ain el-Hilweh in southern Lebanon.
In a statement, Mikati said that he had spoken with his security chiefs and assessed that the situation “does not call for concern or panic.” He said there has been “significant progress” in resolving the violence in Ain el-Hilweh, where at least 13 people have been killed in fighting.
The statement said Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib was tasked with assuring Arab countries that their citizens were safe in Lebanon.
The Saudi embassy on Friday urged its citizens to leave lebanon quickly and avoid areas where there have been armed clashes. Bahrain followed suit a day later and asked its citizens to leave the country, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
The Saudi statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, stressed “the importance of adhering to Saudi Arabia’s travel ban to Lebanon.”
Kuwait and Qatar on Saturday urged their citizens in Lebanon to remain vigilant and avoid “security unrest areas” but stopped short of asking them to leave.
Last week, Germany warned citizens not to travel to Palestinian camps in Lebanon, among other areas. Britain advised against “all but essential travel” to parts of southern Lebanon, including near Ain el-Hilweh.
About a quarter of the camp’s 80,000 residents have been displaced by fighting there on July 29 between the main faction Fatah and hardline Islamists
Ain el-Hilweh is the largest of the 12 Palestinian camps in Lebanon, which house up to 250,000 Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA).
Reporting by Maya Gebeily in Beirut and Vera Eckert in Germany; edited by Giles Elgood, Toby Chopra and Jonathan Oatis
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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