Saudi Arabia tells citizens to leave Lebanese territory

Smoke rises during clashes in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh near the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, on July 30, 2023. (AP)

• The Kingdom's embassy in Lebanon stressed the importance of adhering to the Saudi travel ban to Lebanon

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has told its citizens to leave Lebanon and avoid approaching areas of armed conflict, the Saudi embassy in Lebanon said in a statement posted on Twitter late on Friday.
“The Kingdom’s embassy in the Lebanese Republic warned citizens against being present and approaching areas witnessing armed conflicts, and demanded them to quickly leave Lebanese territory,” the embassy said.
It also stressed “the importance of adhering to the Saudi travel ban to Lebanon,” the statement added.
On Aug. 1, the UK also updated its travel advice for Lebanon, advising against “all but essential travel” to parts of Lebanon’s south near the Palestinian camp of Ain El-Hilweh.
At least 13 people, most of them militants, have been killed in fighting that erupted in the camp on July 29 between mainstream faction Fatah and hardline Islamists, security sources in the camp told Reuters.
Ain el-Hilweh is the largest of 12 Palestinian camps in Lebanon, hosting around 80,000 of up to 250,000 Palestinian refugees countrywide, according to the United Nations' agency for refugees from Palestine.
(With Reuters)