Turkey is making preparations for the possible evacuation of its citizens and foreign nationals from Lebanon, as cross-border fire between Israel and militant group Hezbollah continues there, a Turkish defence ministry source said on Thursday.
No evacuation plan has been implemented by Turkey at this time © Mena Today
Turkey is making preparations for the possible evacuation of its citizens and foreign nationals from Lebanon, as cross-border fire between Israel and militant group Hezbollah continues there, a Turkish defence ministry source said on Thursday.
The military has the "capability and resources to carry out any mission assigned to it for the safe evacuation of our citizens or foreign nationals from Lebanon," the source said during a briefing.
"Preliminary planning and preparations for a potential evacuation operation are being made," the person said, adding Turkey had successfully completed such operations before and was closely following developments in Lebanon.
Israel widened its airstrikes in Lebanon on Wednesday and at least 72 people were killed, according to a Reuters compilation of Lebanese health ministry statements.
Several allies, including the United States and France, also called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border.
Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu
Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 13 people on Wednesday, Lebanese security sources said, as Israel pressed its campaign against Hezbollah and the Iran-backed group claimed fresh attacks against Israeli forces in the south.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan escalated his rhetorical offensive against Israel on Wednesday, telling lawmakers from his ruling AK Party that Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Syria had reached a point where they "also threaten Turkey », a claim that says far more about Turkish domestic politics than it does about regional security realities.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had carried out missile and drone attacks on U.S. military bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain on Wednesday in retaliation for American strikes on Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz.
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