Türkiye issues travel warning for Lebanon amid regional tension

By Gizem Nisa Cebi

ISTANBUL (AA) - Türkiye issued a warning Wednesday to its nationals traveling to Lebanon because of recent developments in the region, according to its Foreign Ministry.

It recommended that Turks in Lebanon exercise caution and avoid traveling to the Nebatiyeh, South Lebanon, Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel governorates "unless absolutely necessary," considering recent developments and their effect on Lebanon.

Turks should also follow official websites and social media accounts of the Turkish Embassy in Beirut and have information about necessary telephone numbers to connect, it said.

Iran launched an airborne attack Saturday on Israel in retaliation for an April 1 airstrike on its diplomatic compound in the Syrian capital. It reportedly fired more than 300 drones and missiles, with almost all intercepted by the air defense systems of Israel and its allies -- the US, France and the UK.

Israel has killed nearly 34,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a cross-border incursion that claimed less than 1,200 lives.

The war has also pushed most of the territory's population of more than 2.2 million into internal displacement with much of the enclave becoming inhabitable, and famine setting in.