YEREVAN, JULY 17, ARMENPRESS: A group of Armenian citizens were swiftly taken from Lebanon to neighboring Syria’s Aleppo last Saturday to be flown from there by a direct flight to Armenia.
Vladimir Karapetian, the acting head of press office of Armenian foreign ministry, said the evacuation of Armenian citizens from Lebanon was on Armenian foreign ministry’s agenda right after Israel began its rocket attacks on Lebanon. He said the Armenian embassy in Lebanon was dealing with this issue, but added the embassy did not have information about the exact number of Armenian citizens visiting Lebanon now. Karapetian said, there may be overall from 50 to 70 Armenian citizens in Lebanon.
The spokesman did not had information about damages that the Armenian community in Lebanon might have suffered. Karapetian said the foreign ministry was first of all trying to specify the situation with Armenian citizens and evacuate them from that country. France, the United States and a host of other nations moved to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon on Sunday as Israel carried out air strikes for a fifth day. Foreigners have fled in thousands by car to neighboring Syria since Thursday. Israeli planes, retaliating for Hizbollah rocket attacks and the capture of two soldiers on Wednesday, have killed more than 112 people.
Last Friday Armenia joined other nations condemning Israel for its military action against Lebanon. A statement by Armenian foreign ministry denounced the abduction of two Israeli soldiers and the killing of eight others by the Hezbollah militia, but said Israel should stop its air strikes against civilian targets in Lebanon.
“Armenia condemns any violence whether it be abduction or use of force,” the ministry said in a statement. “We particularly denounce the use of such disproportionate force intended solely to collectively punish civilians and damage infrastructure. This kind of reaction by Israel is particularly difficult to understand given the fact that the Lebanese government has clearly distanced itself from the abduction incident.”
“We hope that there will be restraint in the region and also hope there will be an immediate ceasefire so that the issues can be addressed by peaceful means,” added the statement.
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