The Nigerian government on Wednesday issued a travel directive asking its citizens to leave Lebanon or move to safer places as soon as possible.
The government, through the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), said it is concerned about Israeli attacks on Lebanon which Israel says are aimed at Hezbollah but have caused hundreds of civilian deaths.
NIDCOM advises Nigerians residing in Lebanon to consider moving out of the country now that commercial flights are still operating, agency spokesperson Abdulrahman Balogun said in a statement.
Israel has launched a ground operation across its northern border into Lebanon targeting Hezbollah. The confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah opened a new phase in almost a year of war in the Middle East.
The raid, which Israel's National Security Cabinet has called the “next phase” of its war with Hezbollah, marks the fourth time Israeli soldiers have publicly entered Lebanese soil in nearly 50 years, according to a CNN report.
The latest escalation comes after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike on Friday and decimated the leadership of the group, considered the most powerful paramilitary force in the Middle East.
The Israeli military said the operation is a “limited ground operation,” but Lebanese officials said the airstrikes have killed hundreds of people, destroyed homes and displaced around 1 million people in Lebanon.
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NIDCOM said information from the Nigerian community in Lebanon indicated that most Nigerians have moved from the southern part and are now relatively safe.
“We hereby advise you to stay safe until the ceasefire is established,” the agency said. “It is gratifying to note that no Nigerian has so far witnessed any kind of accident or injury and I wish to advise them to continue to be safe as long as the war lasts.”
On Wednesday, the BBC reported that the Israeli army and Hezbollah were fighting in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military previously said it was focused on eliminating “immediate threats” to Lebanese villages along the border, including Hezbollah's ability to infiltrate northern Israel.
Israeli soldiers, including paratroopers and commandos, as well as armored corps troops, have been “preparing for limited, localized and targeted operations in southern Lebanon,” the Israeli military said, adding that soldiers have been training for weeks and have acquired operational skills and knowledge. experience in Gaza for many months.
While the extent of Israel's military plans inside Lebanon remains unclear, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become increasingly defiant in the face of international calls for restraint and the reduction of tensions, as well as amid widespread outrage over rising civilian casualties in Lebanon and Gaza.
As battles between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops in southern Lebanon intensify, and the Israeli military says at least eight soldiers have been killed in combat so far, there is also other tension between Iran and Israel. Hezbollah said it had repelled Israeli forces from a Lebanese border town.
Iran fired several waves of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday night in a sudden attack that raised the likelihood of a direct all-out war between two of the Middle East's most powerful militaries.
Israel vowed that Iran will “pay” for its missile attack and an Israeli official told NBC News on Wednesday that the country would retaliate quickly. Tehran urged the United States to “step aside” and warned of “a much more crushing response.”
The Israeli military said Iran fired about 180 missiles during its assault, a significant barrage that forced millions of Israelis to take shelter in bomb shelters for more than an hour, according to media reports.
Many of the missiles were intercepted by Israel's air defense system, while some fell in central and southern Israel, according to the Israeli military.
The Iranian president has threatened greater retaliation if Israel counterattacks, saying that if Israel “persists in its actions, we will respond with greater force.” US President Joe Biden said he does not support an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities but plans to announce new sanctions against the country.