A partially destroyed building in Beirut, Lebanon following an Israeli airstrike. Photo: Fadel Itani / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP
The New Zealand government is warning people not to travel to Lebanon due to what it calls the volatile security situation.
The Safetravel advisory was issued this week and elevates Lebanon to the highest level, meaning "extreme risk".
The United States also issued a Do Not Travel notice for citizens on Thursday morning and the British Foreign Secretary warned British citizens in Lebanon to leave immediately or risk "becoming trapped in a warzone".
It comes after an Israeli air strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut killed Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr on Tuesday evening local time.
It was the second time the area of the Lebanese capital had been struck since October, when Hezbollah and Israel began trading fire in parallel with the Gaza War.
Israel's military announced late on Tuesday it had killed Shukr, whom it named as Hezbollah's most senior commander and whom it blamed for an attack on 27 July that left a dozen youngsters dead in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Iran-backed Hezbollah denied any involvement in the Golan attack.
The strike on Beirut happened hours before the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the early hours of Wednesday in Iran, in a development that has further fanned fears of wider regional escalation. Hezbollah is an ally of Hamas.
- RNZ/Reuters
