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UAE, Oman, Qatar Join Others in Warning against Approaching Unsafe Areas in Lebanon

Empty ammunition casings litter the ground at the Ain el-Hilweh camp in Lebanon's southern coastal city of Sidon, on August 4, 2023, following the latest flare-up in the camp for Palestinian refugees. (AFP)
Empty ammunition casings litter the ground at the Ain el-Hilweh camp in Lebanon's southern coastal city of Sidon, on August 4, 2023, following the latest flare-up in the camp for Palestinian refugees. (AFP)
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UAE, Oman, Qatar Join Others in Warning against Approaching Unsafe Areas in Lebanon

Empty ammunition casings litter the ground at the Ain el-Hilweh camp in Lebanon's southern coastal city of Sidon, on August 4, 2023, following the latest flare-up in the camp for Palestinian refugees. (AFP)
Empty ammunition casings litter the ground at the Ain el-Hilweh camp in Lebanon's southern coastal city of Sidon, on August 4, 2023, following the latest flare-up in the camp for Palestinian refugees. (AFP)

More Arab countries have warned against travel to Lebanon in wake of the clashes that had raged in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh in the South.

Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman joined Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in warning their nationals against travel to Lebanon or approaching areas where the clashes were taking place.

The UAE urged its citizens to abide by the previous travel ban to Lebanon.

Qatar said its nationals who are visiting Lebanon must exercise caution and avoid areas that have witnessed unrest.

It added that Qataris in Lebanon must get in contact with the Qatari embassy in Beirut in case of emergency.

Oman also issued a similar call for caution to its citizens.

Saudi Arabia had on Friday called on its citizens to quickly leave Lebanese territory and to avoid approaching areas where there have been armed clashes.

On Aug. 1, the United Kingdom also updated its travel advice for Lebanon, advising against "all but essential travel" to parts of Lebanon’s south near the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh.

Kuwait also issued an advisory early on Saturday calling on Kuwaitis in Lebanon to stay vigilant and avoid "areas of security disturbances."

The Lebanese government has scrambled to contain the fallout and avoid damage to the country’s most promising tourism season in 13 years.

At least 13 people, most of them gunmen, were killed in fighting that broke out in Ain el-Hilweh on July 29 between mainstream faction Fatah and hardline Islamists, security sources in the camp said.

An uneasy calm has since been restored after Palestinian and Lebanese parties, including Amal and Hezbollah, intervened.

Ain el-Hilweh is the largest of 12 Palestinian camps in Lebanon, which host up to 250,000 Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations' agency for refugees from Palestine (UNRWA).

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati had delivered a rare rebuke to the Palestinian factions, saying the fighting was a "flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty."

"It is unacceptable for Palestinian groups to view Lebanon as open ground where they can wage their bloody fighting and terrorize the Lebanese people," he added.

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The Arrest of Aws Salloum: What We Know About the ‘Azrael of Sednaya’

Photo of Salloum circulated on X
Photo of Salloum circulated on X
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The Arrest of Aws Salloum: What We Know About the ‘Azrael of Sednaya’

Photo of Salloum circulated on X
Photo of Salloum circulated on X

The name Aws Salloum, nicknamed the “Azrael of Sednaya,” has dominated social media over the past few hours. Syrian activists widely shared images of him in detention, alongside a resurfaced video of Syrian activist Mazen Hamada, who suffered torture in Syrian prisons and spoke of a jailer referred to as “Azrael.”

The “Radaa al-Adwan” (Deterrence Against Aggression) operations room announced the capture of the “Azrael of Sednaya,” accused of torturing and killing numerous prisoners. According to the announcement, Salloum was arrested during Thursday’s raids in Homs targeting remnants of the Assad regime.

Who Is Aws Salloum?

Syrian activists circulated videos showing a man arrested in Homs, identified as Aws Salloum. Salloum hails from the village of Al-Qabo in rural Homs, an area known for its loyalty to deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian revolution.

He joined the security forces of the Assad regime, where he gained notoriety for his brutality, as evidenced by survivor testimonies. He earned the nickname “Azrael of Sednaya” due to his heinous methods of torture and execution in Sednaya Prison, infamously referred to as the “human slaughterhouse.”

According to survivor accounts reported by the media, Salloum was responsible for the execution of over 500 detainees in gruesome ways, including crushing prisoners’ heads with concrete blocks. Former prisoners described Salloum as one of the most brutal jailers, employing extreme violence to maintain control and instill terror among inmates.

Activists also shared an old video of Syrian dissident Mazen Hamada recounting his experience with a jailer nicknamed “Azrael.”

In the video, Hamada said: “There was a man who called himself Azrael. He would come to us in the hospital at midnight, drunk. He would ask, ‘Who wants medicine?’ A young man from Daraya warned us, ‘Don’t raise your hands.’ When I asked why, he replied, ‘Do you want to die? If you raise your hand, you’ll be killed.’”

Hamada continued: “A man from Ghouta said, ‘I do.’ Azrael of Sednaya responded, ‘The Divine Court sentences you to death,’ and proceeded to beat him with a metal rod tipped with nails until he decapitated him.”

Mazen Hamada himself was later killed under torture in Syrian prisons. His body was discovered at a military hospital after al-Assad’s fall.

After the ousting of the Assad regime on December 8, opposition armed factions opened all prisons across the country, releasing detainees. This revealed the extent of the horrors committed in these facilities, with Sednaya Prison standing out as one of the most notorious sites of abuse. However, the fate of thousands of disappeared and detained individuals remains unknown, while mass graves continue to be unearthed across the country, bearing testimony to years of war crimes and atrocities.