SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s foreign ministry on Tuesday “strongly advised” its nationals in Lebanon and Israel to leave as soon as possible because of escalating tensions in the Middle East.
The travel advisory was issued after a commander of the Iran-aligned Lebanese group Hezbollah and the head of the political wing of Hamas, the group that runs the Gaza Strip, were killed, Lee Jae-woong, a ministry spokesperson said.
The assassinations came after a deadly rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights late last month.
“South Korea’s government…hopes that diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions such as negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release will not stop,” Lee told a briefing.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in the Iranian capital Tehran last week, an attack that drew threats of revenge on Israel and fueled further concern that the conflict in Gaza was turning into a wider Middle East war.Washington has been urging other countries through diplomatic channels to tell Iran that escalation in the Middle East is not in their interest, a State Department spokesperson said on Monday.
More than 500 South Korean nationals are currently residing in Israel and around 120 in Lebanon as of Tuesday, according to the ministry.
(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Ed Davies)
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