Russia Says it Is Surprised by Lebanon’s Condemnation of Invasion

A man inspects the damage at a building following a rocket attack on the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP)
A man inspects the damage at a building following a rocket attack on the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP)
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Russia Says it Is Surprised by Lebanon’s Condemnation of Invasion

A man inspects the damage at a building following a rocket attack on the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP)
A man inspects the damage at a building following a rocket attack on the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP)

Russia's embassy in Lebanon was surprised by the Lebanese foreign ministry statement that condemned the Russian military operations in Ukraine, it said in a statement on its Facebook page.

"The statement... surprised us by violating the policy of self-distancing and by taking one side against another in these events, noting that Russia spared no effort in contributing to the advancement and stability of the Lebanese Republic," the statement said.

Lebanon condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Thursday and called on Moscow to halt its military operations at once.



Residents Flee Lebanon's Baalbek after Israel Evacuation Warning

People inspect the damage after overnight Israeli airstrikes on the Lebanese village of Hufair, near Baalbek, on October 29, 2024. (Photo by Sam SKAINEH / AFP)
People inspect the damage after overnight Israeli airstrikes on the Lebanese village of Hufair, near Baalbek, on October 29, 2024. (Photo by Sam SKAINEH / AFP)
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Residents Flee Lebanon's Baalbek after Israel Evacuation Warning

People inspect the damage after overnight Israeli airstrikes on the Lebanese village of Hufair, near Baalbek, on October 29, 2024. (Photo by Sam SKAINEH / AFP)
People inspect the damage after overnight Israeli airstrikes on the Lebanese village of Hufair, near Baalbek, on October 29, 2024. (Photo by Sam SKAINEH / AFP)

Residents of Baalbek rushed out of their homes Wednesday after the Israeli army ordered Lebanon's main eastern city and its outskirts evacuated for the first time in more than a month of war.

The Israeli army urged residents of Baalbek and surrounding villages to leave immediately, warning it was preparing attacks on Hezbollah targets.

The main roads out of the city were jammed with vehicles as civilians fled in panic, an AFP correspondent reported.

Civil defense vehicles drove around the city urging everyone to leave immediately over loudspeaker.

Mosques and churches in the city delivered the same message over their loudspeakers.

"The city is almost empty," the correspondent said about an hour after the evacuation warning.

Before the evacuation order, the war had forced 60 percent of its estimated 250,000 residents to flee.

 

"The (Israeli army) will act forcefully against Hezbollah interests within your city and villages,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X that included a map of the area in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

The area marked for evacuation includes the ancient Roman temple complex, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Israeli strikes on the Bekaa Valley killed more than 60 people across a dozen towns, the district governor said on Tuesday, the deadliest day yet in the area in more than a year of hostilities.

The highest death toll was in the town of Sahl Allak in the Baalbek province, where 16 people were killed, according to the National News Agency, which listed deaths in 12 different locations in the Bekaa.
In Ramm, also in Baalbek, an Israeli airstrike killed nine people, including a mother and her four children, and left one other person wounded, according to NNA.
Baalbek’s Mayor Bachir Khodr described the strikes as “the most violent day in Baalbeck since the beginning of the aggression,” in a post on X. He said people remained trapped under the rubble.