DUBAI: The UAE announced on Monday that all its diplomats, embassy staff and citizens have returned from Lebanon, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) said.
On Sunday, the UAE called on its citizens present in Lebanon to return to the Emirates as soon as possible to ensure their safety, following a diplomatic row that was sparked in solidarity with Saudi Arabia over controversial comments made by the Lebanese information minister that were critical to the Kingdom.
“The ministry attributed the development to the UAE’s decision to recall its diplomats and administration staff from Lebanon and bar Emirati citizens to travel to the country owing to the current security and political situation there,” the MoFAIC statement said.
“Out of the UAE’s determination on ensuring the safety of its citizens abroad, the ministry contacted UAE national in Lebanon to coordinate their return back home,” said Khalid Belhoul, the ministry’s undersecretary.
He added that the ministry was following up on the procedures of all citizens in Lebanon until their safe return to the country.
UAE says all diplomats, citizens have returned ‘safely’ from Lebanon
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UAE says all diplomats, citizens have returned ‘safely’ from Lebanon
- The decision was based on the current security and political situation, the foreign ministry says
- The UAE had called on its citizens present in Lebanon to return to the Emirates as soon as possible to ensure their safety
Thousands stage pro-Gaza rally in Istanbul
- Thousands joined a New Year’s Day rally for Gaza in Istanbul Thursday, waving Palestinian and Turkish flags and calling for an end to the violence in the tiny war-torn territory
ISTANBUL: Thousands joined a New Year’s Day rally for Gaza in Istanbul Thursday, waving Palestinian and Turkish flags and calling for an end to the violence in the tiny war-torn territory.
Demonstrators gathered in freezing temperatures under cloudless blue skies to march to the city’s Galata Bridge for a rally under the slogan: “We won’t remain silent, we won’t forget Palestine,” an AFP reporter at the scene said.
More than 400 civil society organizations were present at the rally, one of whose organizers was Bilal Erdogan, the youngest son of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Police sources and Anadolou state news agency said some 500,000 people had joined the march at which there were speeches and a performance by Lebanese-born singer Maher Zain of his song “Free Palestine.”
“We are praying that 2026 will bring goodness for our entire nation and for the oppressed Palestinians,” said Erdogan, who chairs the board of the Ilim Yayma Foundation, an educational charity that was one of the organizers of the march.
Turkiye has been one of the most vocal critics of the war in Gaza and helped broker a recent ceasefire that halted the deadly war waged by Israel in response to Hamas’s unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023.
But the fragile October 10 ceasefire has not stopped the violence with more than more than 400 Palestinians killed since it took hold.
