PUTRAJAYA — Four Malaysians have been evacuated from Lebanon and arrived safely at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) this morning.
Another citizen is scheduled to arrive later today day, the Foreign Ministry said.
Their departure from Beirut on a commercial aircraft was facilitated by the Malaysian Embassy there, the ministry said in a statement.
16 more people comprising Malaysians and their families remain in Lebanon and efforts to evacuate them are underway, the ministry added.
“The Ministry is fully committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of Malaysian citizens in Lebanon.”
Lebanon, meanwhile, has submitted a formal complaint to the United Nations (UN) Security Council and UN Secretary-General António Guterres over Israel’s incursion into its territory and violating the Blue Line separating the two countries.
The complaint condemns Israel’s “aggression against Lebanon’s sovereignty and the incursion of its forces within Lebanese borders” since the night of October 1.
Israel launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon on the official pretext of establishing a security buffer zone. One Israeli soldier was killed in the ground incursion.
On Thursday, Hezbollah reported repelling six Israeli infiltration attempts in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon’s mission said Israel violated the 2000 Blue Line and belittled Security Council Resolution 1701 that was adopted in August 2006.
It demands a full cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel and the creation of a zone between the Blue Line and the Litani River, free of armed groups except for the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL.
Lebanon’s complaint noted that Israel has amassed military forces, tanks and armoured vehicles along Lebanon’s southern border, targeting civilians, aid workers and journalists, while indiscriminately shelling towns and villages with more than 8,570 strikes.
Israel has launched massive airstrikes since Sept 23 on what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon that have killed so far more than 1,100 victims, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war. – October 4, 2024