Canada’s Trudeau urges citizens to leave Lebanon over risk of conflict

Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau| FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday urged Canadians to leave Lebanon, warning of the risk of escalating regional conflict between Israel and others, including Lebanon-based armed group Hezbollah.

“We see that the risk of escalation is real,” he said at a press conference. “We’re encouraging and asking all Canadians to please leave Lebanon while there are commercial routes available.”

Tens of thousands of Canadians are believed to be living in the country, which has already seen Hezbollah trade near-daily fire with Israel in support of its ally Hamas, the Palestinian armed group.

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An Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital Beirut’s southern suburbs late last month killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukr, just hours before the assassination, blamed on Israel, of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

On Monday, the US government warned that Iran could launch a “significant attack” on Israel this week, in retaliation against the assassination in Tehran.

Canada issued an advisory in late June against travel to Lebanon, citing a “volatile and unpredictable” situation with the possibility of violence between Hezbollah and Israel flaring up without warning.

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Its military is setting up emergency resources in Cyprus to evacuate its nationals from the region if commercial flights from Lebanon are halted.