ANKARA 

China on Thursday asked its citizens in Lebanon to leave “as soon as possible” following the killing of a senior leader of Palestinian Fatah movement, joining a number of countries that have already urged their nationals to do that in recent weeks.

“Recently, the situation on the Lebanese-Israeli border has continued to be tense, and security circumstances in Lebanon are severe and complex,” China’s Embassy in Beirut said in a statement.

Beijing urged its citizens in Lebanon to “take the opportunity while commercial flights are still running to return to China or leave the country as soon as possible.”

“The current level of risk to travel in Lebanon’s South and Nabatieh Governorates is red (extremely high risk), and other areas is orange (high risk),” the statement added.

Khalil al-Makdah, a leader of Fatah movement’s armed wing in Lebanon, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday, further fueling the already heightened tensions in the Middle East amid Israel’s ongoing onslaught on Gaza.

It marked the first time Israel has targeted a senior Fatah member in more than 10 months of cross-border clashes with Hezbollah.​​​​​​​