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September 23 () –
Australian authorities on Monday called on their citizens to “immediately” leave Lebanon following a wave of bombings carried out by Israeli forces throughout the day, which have so far left 274 dead and more than a thousand wounded.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has stressed that Australian citizens “must leave Lebanon while commercial flights are available,” as she highlighted in a message posted on her social media account X.
In this regard, he warned of a further deterioration of the security situation and said that the Australian Government is “seriously concerned about the increase in tension in the Middle East.” “The continuation of the clashes puts the civilian population at risk,” he said.
Tensions between Lebanon and Israel have been growing since last July, when Fuad Shukr, a senior Shiite militia member of Hezbollah, was killed in an attack on the Hared Hreik neighborhood in southern Beirut, blamed on Israeli forces.
Just last week, nearly 40 people were killed and some 3,000 injured when thousands of communications devices — including pagers and walkie-talkies — allegedly linked to the group exploded, an attack that both Hezbollah and Lebanese authorities blame on Israel.
On September 20, the Israeli army launched a “targeted attack” against areas in southern Beirut, killing Hezbollah operations chief Ibrahim Akil along with thirteen other members of the group. These attacks have continued over the past few days until Monday, when the Israeli army killed more than 270 people in a series of bombings against positions allegedly belonging to Hezbollah in the south of the neighbouring country.
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