Amid the escaliting tension in West Asia, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said since, flights are running in these areas as per schedule, India has not started any immediate evacuation plan.
“As of now, from Israel, Iran and other countries, flights are running so people have the option if they want to leave. Families have reached out to us and to our embassies, but at this point, we don’t have any evacuation process going on. We have around 3,000 people in Lebanon, mostly in Beirut… In Iran, we have around 10,000 people, around 5,000 of them are students… In Israel, we have around 30,000 people largely caregivers and workers…”
“On India’s stand in the Iran-Israel war, Jaiswal said, “We issued a statement a few days back expressing deep concern – we said that the violence and the situation is of deep concern for us. We had reiterated a call for restraint by all concerned and also the protection of civilians. It is important in our opinion that this conflict doesn’t take a wider regional dimension…”
Latest updates in Iran-Israel war
Israel carried out a series of massive airstrikes overnight in southern suburbs of Beirut and another that cut off the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, a main crossing point for tens of thousands of people fleeing Israeli bombardment.
The blasts in the Beirut suburbs sent huge plumes of smoke and flames into the night sky and shook buildings km (miles) away in the Lebanese capital. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on what the intended target was, and there was no information immediately available on casualties. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported there were more than 10 consecutive airstrikes in the area.
The Israeli military said Friday that a strike in Beirut the day before killed Mohammed Rashid Skafi, the head of Hezbollah’s communications division. The military said in a statement that Skafi was “a senior Hezbollah terrorist who was responsible for the communications unit since 2000” and was “closely affiliated” with high-up Hezbollah officials.
