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France Warns against Lebanon Travel, Joining Western States

Smoke rises from Israeli artillery shelling in Dhayra village, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, Lebanon, 16 October 2023. (EPA)
Smoke rises from Israeli artillery shelling in Dhayra village, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, Lebanon, 16 October 2023. (EPA)
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France Warns against Lebanon Travel, Joining Western States

Smoke rises from Israeli artillery shelling in Dhayra village, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, Lebanon, 16 October 2023. (EPA)
Smoke rises from Israeli artillery shelling in Dhayra village, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, Lebanon, 16 October 2023. (EPA)

France on Tuesday joined several Western countries in warning its citizens to avoid travel to Lebanon as the security situation remains tense and as some airlines suspended flights.

Since Hamas attacked on October 7 triggering war between Israel and the Gaza-based militants, the Lebanese-Israel border has seen near daily tit-for-tat incidents involving Lebanon's Hezbollah or Palestinian groups including Hamas.

At least 18 have been killed on the Lebanese side, including a Reuters journalist and two other civilians, while on the Israeli side, at least three people have been killed.

"Given security tensions in the region and particularly on Lebanon's southern border, French travelers planning a trip to Lebanon are not advised to go there," the French foreign ministry said in a statement on its website.

France on Monday warned Lebanese officials to avert war with Israel, and the United States has urged Hezbollah to stay out of the conflict.

Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, has so far limited its cross-border attacks but analysts say the Iran-backed group with a powerful arsenal could open a front with Israel if it invades the Gaza Strip.

Swiss International Air Lines said Monday it was suspending flights between Switzerland and Beirut initially until October 28 due to unrest on the border.

Germany's Lufthansa has suspended flights until October 22, the airline's website says.

Middle East Airlines, Lebanon's national carrier, relocated five of its 24 planes to the Istanbul airport as a temporary "pre-emptive step" in light of regional developments, it said Monday.

During a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel knocked out Beirut airport, Lebanon's only international facility.

"Events in Lebanon are fast moving. The situation has potential to deteriorate quickly and with no warning," Britain said in its travel advice, last updated on Monday.

"The British Embassy has temporarily withdrawn family members of staff," the government website said, advising "against all travel to some parts of Lebanon" including border areas and "against all but essential travel to the rest of Lebanon".

The United States on October 9 issued a broad "regional security alert" warning citizens to "take caution".

Canada has warned its citizens to "avoid non-essential travel to Lebanon", citing "an unpredictable security situation" and the "armed conflict with Israel".

Spain has also advised against non-essential travel.

Germany on Sunday urged its nationals not to travel to Lebanon because of "an escalation of violence" following the Hamas attacks on Israel. The travel warning is at the highest level given by the German government.

Australia has advised its citizens: "'Reconsider your need to travel' to Lebanon due to the security environment".

"If you wish to leave... you should consider the first available option," it said on the Australian government's Smartraveller website.

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Arab World

Germany’s Merz Urges Netanyahu to End Lebanon Fighting

German Chancellor and leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Friedrich Merz attends the CDU's leadership meeting at the party's headquarters in Berlin, on April 13, 2026. (AFP)
German Chancellor and leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Friedrich Merz attends the CDU's leadership meeting at the party's headquarters in Berlin, on April 13, 2026. (AFP)
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Germany’s Merz Urges Netanyahu to End Lebanon Fighting

German Chancellor and leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Friedrich Merz attends the CDU's leadership meeting at the party's headquarters in Berlin, on April 13, 2026. (AFP)
German Chancellor and leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Friedrich Merz attends the CDU's leadership meeting at the party's headquarters in Berlin, on April 13, 2026. (AFP)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to end fighting in southern Lebanon and engage in direct peace talks with the Lebanese government, a spokesman said.

Merz also expressed his "grave concern" about developments in the Palestinian territories in a telephone conversation with Netanyahu and demanded that there "must be no de facto partial annexation of the West Bank", the German government spokesman said.

The spokesman said Merz offered Germany's continuing support for efforts "to reach a diplomatic understanding between the United States and Iran" in the war launched by Israel and the US on February 28.

Merz initially welcomed the US-Israeli attacks, but has shifted to alarm as the potential global economic fallout became more serious and Iranian retaliatory strikes against Gulf states threatened to turn the conflict into a regional war.

On Monday, Merz told Netanyahu that "Germany is prepared to contribute to ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz" -- but only following the "cessation of hostilities" and "provided the necessary conditions are met", according to the spokesman's summary of the conversation.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz -- a crucial waterway for about 20 percent of the world's oil supplies before the war -- has been largely halted by Iranian threats to strike tankers.

US President Donald Trump has declared a partial naval blockade of the strait after negotiations with Iran over the weekend broke down.

Arab World

Hezbollah Leader Asks Lebanon to Cancel Tuesday Meeting with Israel

Israeli army excavators demolish buildings in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, 13 April 2026. (EPA)
Israeli army excavators demolish buildings in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, 13 April 2026. (EPA)
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Hezbollah Leader Asks Lebanon to Cancel Tuesday Meeting with Israel

Israeli army excavators demolish buildings in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, 13 April 2026. (EPA)
Israeli army excavators demolish buildings in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, 13 April 2026. (EPA)

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem urged Lebanon to cancel a planned meeting with Israel in Washington on Tuesday, reiterating his group's rejection of direct negotiations with its foe.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than a million since the Iran-backed group Hezbollah drew the country into the Middle East war.

The Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States are scheduled to meet in Washington on Tuesday to discuss holding direct negotiations between the two countries.

Lebanese authorities have stressed that Beirut first wants to secure a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war, but Israel has dismissed that prospect, saying it prefers instead to focus on formal peace talks with Lebanon itself, with which it has technically been at war for decades.

"We reject negotiations with the usurping Israeli entity," Hezbollah's Qassem, whose group has been at war with Israel since March 2, said in a televised address on Monday.

"We call for a historic and heroic stance by cancelling this negotiating meeting."

- 'Dismantle Hezbollah' -

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that "we want the dismantling of Hezbollah's weapons, and we want a real peace agreement that will last for generations".

Qassem, however, said "these negotiations are futile and require a Lebanese agreement and consensus".

Hundreds of Hezbollah supporters protested on Friday and Saturday against the planned talks, accusing Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam of being a "Zionist".

"We will not surrender, we will remain in the field until our last breath," Qassem said as his fighters faced off with advancing Israeli troops seeking to create a "security zone" in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli army said on Monday that its troops had completely surrounded the key southern town of Bint Jbeil, while Hezbollah continued to claim attacks against Israeli forces there.

The Israeli military said Tuesday a soldier had been killed in southern Lebanon -- the first since a US-Iran temporary truce came into force that Israel insisted does not include the country.

Qassem said northern Israeli localities "will not be safe, even if the Israelis were to enter any area of Lebanon".

He also accused Beirut of "backstabbing" his group by declaring its military activities illegal at the start of the war.

"Israel and the US clearly said they want to strengthen the Lebanese army to disarm and fight Hezbollah... but the army cannot do that," Qassem added.

Arab World

French Cement Maker Lafarge Found Guilty of Financing Extremists in Syria

13 July 1995, Saxony-Anhalt, Karsdorf: French cement manufacturer Lafarge logo pictured in Karsdorf on railroad containers. (dpa)
13 July 1995, Saxony-Anhalt, Karsdorf: French cement manufacturer Lafarge logo pictured in Karsdorf on railroad containers. (dpa)
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French Cement Maker Lafarge Found Guilty of Financing Extremists in Syria

13 July 1995, Saxony-Anhalt, Karsdorf: French cement manufacturer Lafarge logo pictured in Karsdorf on railroad containers. (dpa)
13 July 1995, Saxony-Anhalt, Karsdorf: French cement manufacturer Lafarge logo pictured in Karsdorf on railroad containers. (dpa)

A Paris court on Monday found cement maker Holcim's Lafarge unit guilty of charges that its Syrian subsidiary financed terrorism and breached European sanctions to keep a plant operating in northern Syria during the country's civil war.

The case was the first time a company has been tried in France for financing terrorism. Sherpa and ECCHR, two organizations that filed the initial lawsuit, in a joint statement called it "a historic decision in the fight against multinational corporations' impunity".

Eight former Lafarge employees were found guilty, including former CEO Bruno Lafont, who was sentenced to six years in jail. His lawyer told Reuters he would appeal.

A lawyer for Christian Herrault, the former deputy managing director of the Lafarge group who was sentenced to five ‌years in jail, said ‌Herrault would also appeal.

Judges determined that Lafarge in total paid 5.59 ‌million euros ($6.54 ⁠million) to extremist ⁠groups including ISIS and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, both designated as terrorists by the European Union, between 2013 and September 2014.

The presiding judge, Isabelle Prevost-Desprez, said the payments made by Lafarge helped to strengthen extremist groups that carried out deadly attacks in Syria and beyond.

'COMMERCIAL PARTNERSHIP' WITH ISIS

"It is clear to the court that the sole purpose of the funding of a terrorist organization was to keep the Syrian plant running for economic reasons. Payments to terrorist entities enabled Lafarge to continue its operations," Prevost-Desprez said.

"These ⁠payments took the form of a genuine commercial partnership with the ‌ISIS," she added.

The cement maker was ordered to pay a ‌1.125 million euro ($1.32 million) fine, the maximum penalty available for a company, as prosecutors had requested.

"Lafarge SA ‌acknowledges the court's finding, which concerns a legacy matter involving conduct that occurred more than a decade ‌ago and was in flagrant violation of Lafarge's Code of Conduct," the company said in a statement.

"The decision is an important milestone in Lafarge SA’s actions to address this legacy matter responsibly and the company is reviewing the court’s reasoning."

Holcim did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It was not immediately clear whether ‌the other former employees found guilty would also appeal. They were handed sentences ranging from one to seven years, as well as fines.

The Jalabiya ⁠plant, located in northern ⁠Syria and bought by Lafarge in 2008 for $680 million, began operating in 2010, months before the beginning of the Syrian uprising in early 2011.

Employees were housed in the nearby town of Manbij and needed to cross the Euphrates River to access the plant. Among the payments, the court found more than 800,000 euros were paid to secure safe passage.

Another 1.6 million euros were used to purchase source materials from quarries that were under ISIS control, the court said.

Lafarge became part of Switzerland-listed Holcim in 2015.

In a separate case in the United States, Lafarge admitted in 2022 that its Syrian subsidiary paid $6 million to ISIS and the Nusra Front to allow employees, customers and suppliers to pass through checkpoints after civil conflict broke out in Syria.

The group paid $778 million in forfeiture and fines as part of its US plea agreement.

Lafarge is also under investigation in France for complicity in crimes against humanity over how the company kept its factory running in Syria.