Lebanon Continues Tightening Security Measures, Procedures

 The Saudi ambassador to Lebanon met with a delegation from the Renewal of the Homeland movement. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
 The Saudi ambassador to Lebanon met with a delegation from the Renewal of the Homeland movement. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Lebanon Continues Tightening Security Measures, Procedures

 The Saudi ambassador to Lebanon met with a delegation from the Renewal of the Homeland movement. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
 The Saudi ambassador to Lebanon met with a delegation from the Renewal of the Homeland movement. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Lebanese authorities continued their efforts to reaffirm their determination to tighten the security situation in the country, following warnings issued by the embassies of Arab countries to their nationals to avoid traveling to Lebanon.

Recent battles that took place in a Palestinian refugee camp prompted Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, to call on their citizens to quickly leave Lebanese territory and avoid approaching areas of armed clashes.

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

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Bukhari, said that the Kingdom’s decision “came as a result of the events of the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp.”

“Saudi Arabia has been and will be one of the biggest supporters of tourism in Lebanon, and it will prove this in the future if the Lebanese succeed in solving their crisis,” the ambassador told a delegation from the Renewal for Homeland Movement on Monday.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, for his part, noted that the security situation in Lebanon “does not warrant concern and panic.”

His comments came in response to Arab countries’ call on their citizens to leave Lebanese territory quickly.

Similarly, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said on Monday that the situation in the Ain Al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon was under control.

“The atmosphere has calmed down, and security agencies continue to exert effort to arrest the perpetrators,” the minister told a press conference in Beirut.

He added: “There is no compromise on the application of the law,” stressing that Lebanon will not be used as a “platform for sending messages.”



Israel Orders More Evacuations in Central Gaza

A Palestinian boy plays among the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 04 October 2024. (EPA)
A Palestinian boy plays among the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 04 October 2024. (EPA)
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Israel Orders More Evacuations in Central Gaza

A Palestinian boy plays among the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 04 October 2024. (EPA)
A Palestinian boy plays among the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 04 October 2024. (EPA)

The Israeli military on Saturday warned residents in parts of central Gaza to evacuate, saying its forces will soon operate there in response to Palestinian fighters.

The warnings cover areas along a strategic corridor in central Gaza, which was at the heart of obstacles to a ceasefire deal earlier this summer.

The military warned Palestinians in areas of Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps, located along the Netzarim corridor, to evacuate to the area the military designated a humanitarian zone, an area called Muwasi along Gaza’s shore.

It’s unclear how many Palestinians are currently living in this area, parts of which were evacuated previously.

Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to heavily destroyed areas of Gaza where they had fought earlier battles against Hamas and other fighters since the start of war one year ago.

The vast majority of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people has been displaced in the war, often multiple times, and hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid tent camps.

Others have remained in their homes despite being ordered to leave, saying nowhere in the isolated coastal territory feels safe.

At least 41,825 Palestinians have been killed and 96,910 wounded in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, the enclave's health authorities said on Saturday.