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)

05:56-18 October 2023 AD ـ 04 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1445 AH

05:51-18 October 2023 AD ـ 04 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1445 AH

05:56-18 October 2023 AD ـ 04 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1445 AH

05:51-18 October 2023 AD ـ 04 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1445 AH

US State Department Raises Travel Advisory for Lebanon

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.”

Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Asharq Al Awsat

12:01-9 January 2025 AD ـ 10 Rajab 1446 AH

11:54-9 January 2025 AD ـ 10 Rajab 1446 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

12:01-9 January 2025 AD ـ 10 Rajab 1446 AH

11:54-9 January 2025 AD ـ 10 Rajab 1446 AH

Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Pope Francis on Thursday stepped up his recent criticisms of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave "very serious and shameful.”

In a yearly address to diplomats delivered on his behalf by an aide, Francis appeared to reference deaths caused by winter cold in Gaza, where there is almost no electricity.

"We cannot in any way accept the bombing of civilians," the text said, according to Reuters.
"We cannot accept that children are freezing to death because hospitals have been destroyed or a country's energy network has been hit."

The pope, 88, was present for the address but asked an aide to read it for him as he is recovering from a cold.

The comments were part of an address to Vatican-accredited envoys from some 184 countries that is sometimes called the pope's 'state of the world' speech. The Israeli ambassador to the Holy See was among those present for the event.

Francis, leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts.
But he has recently been more outspoken about Israel's military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas, and has suggested
the global community should study whether the offensive constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.
An Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff in December for that suggestion.

The pope's text said he condemns anti-Semitism, and called the growth of anti-Semitic groups "a source of deep concern."
Francis also called for an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia, which has killed tens of thousands.

US State Department Raises Travel Advisory for Lebanon

US State Department Raises Travel Advisory for Lebanon

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Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

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