‘Leave Lebanon’: India issues advisory to its nationals over ‘potential threats’

India has issued an advisory for its nationals in Lebanon over “potential threats”.
Indians have also been advised not to travel to Lebanon until further notice.
The advisory was issued in the wake of growing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
“In view of recent developments and potential threats in the region, Indian nationals are strongly advised against travelling to Lebanon till further notice. All Indian nationals are also strongly advised to leave Lebanon,” the advisory read.
“Those who remain for any reason are advised to exercise extreme caution, restrict their movements and remain in contact with the Embassy of India in Beirut through their email ID [email protected] or the emergency phone number +96176860128,” it further said.

Since October 8 last year, violence has flared across the border between Israeli troops and Hezbollah.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah’s top military commander Fouad Shukur was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Beirut.
Israel killed Shukur, 61, in retaliation for a July 27 rocket attack that killed 12 children and teenagers in a Druze village in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday.

The Israeli military said Shukr was responsible for the majority of Hezbollah’s most advanced weaponry, including precision-guided missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, long-range rockets and drones.
On Wednesday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinates in Iran.
Shukur was a founding member of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group who helped oversee its expansion from a shadowy Lebanese civil war militia to a major force in the Middle East.

His killing is the heaviest blow to Hezbollah’s command since the 2008 assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, underlining the gravity of this week’s escalation in the conflict, which has been rumbling across region since the Gaza war erupted.
 
While the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran marked a major political setback to the Palestinian Islamist group and its Iran-backed allies, Shukr’s killing has stripped their camp of one of its top military leaders.