The Lebanese National News Agency reported that a building in central Beirut, which houses the office of Qatar‘s Al Jazeera channel and two embassies, was evacuated following consecutive Israeli warnings.
Al Jazeera confirmed that “employees began evacuating the building, which includes its office and those of two embassies, after receiving repeated warnings.”
The Norwegian Foreign Ministry stated that its embassy in the Lebanese capital was evacuated on Thursday due to a bomb threat.
An email statement from the ministry clarified, “We can confirm that the building housing the Norwegian Embassy in Beirut received a bomb threat today.
There are only a few Norwegian diplomats in Beirut, and everyone at the embassy is safe and unharmed.”
Earlier in the day, Mohammad Badran, President of the Court of Audit, revealed that the office had received a call on its landline warning of a potential Israeli attack.
Badran noted that the call had been referred to Lebanese security agencies to verify its authenticity and to take necessary measures if it was intended to cause confusion.
Following the news, Lebanese security forces began coordinating with officials at the Court of Audit to ascertain the reality of the situation and to investigate the source of the call.
According to “An-Nahar” newspaper, the content and voice of the caller were similar to previous warnings received by some Lebanese citizens advising them to evacuate their homes or villages.
The Court of Audit building was also evacuated, with employees expected to return to work the next day after the validity of the threat is confirmed or dismissed.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported that an Israeli tank fired at one of its observation towers in southern Lebanon.
In a statement, UNIFIL noted: “This morning, peacekeepers at a site near Kfar Kila observed an Israeli Merkava tank firing at their observation tower. Two cameras were destroyed, and the tower sustained damage.”
