US State Department Raises Travel Advisory for Lebanon 

Protesters clash with Lebanese security forces outside the US Embassy during a demonstration in solidarity with the people of Gaza in Awkar, east of Beirut, after a strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip killed at least 200 people on October 17, 2023. (AFP)
Protesters clash with Lebanese security forces outside the US Embassy during a demonstration in solidarity with the people of Gaza in Awkar, east of Beirut, after a strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip killed at least 200 people on October 17, 2023. (AFP)
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US State Department Raises Travel Advisory for Lebanon 

Protesters clash with Lebanese security forces outside the US Embassy during a demonstration in solidarity with the people of Gaza in Awkar, east of Beirut, after a strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip killed at least 200 people on October 17, 2023. (AFP)
Protesters clash with Lebanese security forces outside the US Embassy during a demonstration in solidarity with the people of Gaza in Awkar, east of Beirut, after a strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip killed at least 200 people on October 17, 2023. (AFP)

The US State Department has raised the travel advisory for Lebanon, urging people not to travel to the country “due to the unpredictable security situation related to rocket, missile, and artillery exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah or other armed militant factions.”

The advisory issued on Tuesday also urged people to reconsider travel to Lebanon “due to terrorism, civil unrest, armed conflict, crime, kidnapping” and the US Embassy in Beirut’s limited capacity to provide support to US citizens.

The State Department authorized the voluntary, temporary departure of family members of US government personnel and some non-emergency personnel from the US Embassy in Beirut due to the unpredictable security situation in Lebanon.

The advisory was hiked to Level 4, “Do not travel” — the highest level — from Level 3, “Reconsider travel.”



US Ambassador to Lebanon 'Very Happy' over Aoun's Election as President

People carry national flags as they hold a moment of silence marking the one-year anniversary of Beirut's port blast, near the site of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2021. REUTERS/Emilie Madi Purchase Licensing Rights
People carry national flags as they hold a moment of silence marking the one-year anniversary of Beirut's port blast, near the site of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2021. REUTERS/Emilie Madi Purchase Licensing Rights
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US Ambassador to Lebanon 'Very Happy' over Aoun's Election as President

People carry national flags as they hold a moment of silence marking the one-year anniversary of Beirut's port blast, near the site of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2021. REUTERS/Emilie Madi Purchase Licensing Rights
People carry national flags as they hold a moment of silence marking the one-year anniversary of Beirut's port blast, near the site of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2021. REUTERS/Emilie Madi Purchase Licensing Rights

US ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson said she was "very happy" over Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun's election as president on Thursday, ending a more than two-year vacuum in the post.

Johnson and other foreign envoys had attended Thursday's session at the Lebanese parliament in which Aoun was elected.

For its part, France's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday said the election of a new Lebanese president turns a new page for the country and must now be followed by the appointment of a new government capable of carrying out reforms.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said that a new government will have carry out reforms necessary for Lebanon's economic recovery, stability, security and sovereignty, and added that France calls on all Lebanese political leaders and authorities to work towards those goals.