Egypt warns citizens against travelling to Lebanon 'unless absolutely necessary'

Egypt's foreign ministry warned Egyptian nationals against travelling to Lebanon "unless absolutely necessary" amid Israeli attacks, the deadliest since 2006.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Egyptians already present in Lebanon have been urged to "avoid Lebanese provinces witnessing tensions, abide by the instructions of the Lebanese authorities and stay in touch with Egypt's embassy in Beirut."

Local Youm7 newspaper quoted Egypt's ambassador to Lebanon, Alaa Moussa, as confirming that no Egyptian nationals had been reported dead or injured during the recent incidents in the country.                

Earlier this week, Egyptair, the country's official airliner, suspended flights to and from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, until further notice. 

When contacted by The New Arab, several tour companies said that no flights via other airliners were available till the end of September.

Lebanon is one of the countries that Egyptians have access to without applying for an entry visa. While there is no accurate number of Egyptian nationals living in Lebanon, around 40,000 eligible voters were present in the country in December 2023, according to Egyptian news reports.

On Wednesday, Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty described, in his speech before the UN Security Council meeting, the Israeli offensive in Lebanon as a "full-scale aggression and blatant violation of the sovereignty of a country that is a UN founding member."

"The tragedy Lebanon is undergoing is an inevitable outcome of the disgraceful inability of the UN Security Council to fulfil its responsibility towards entirely ending the one-year-long war on the Gaza Strip," said Abdelatty, addressing the meeting attendees.