The UAE has urged its citizens not to travel to Lebanon, after a week of heavy fighting between armed factions in a Palestinian refugee camp, resulting in other Gulf countries also issuing a similar ban.

“In order to preserve the safety of the country’s citizens, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stresses the importance of adhering to the previously issued decision to ban UAE citizens from traveling to Lebanon,” UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday.

The Ministry also provided emergency contact information for UAE citizens that might need any assistance:

-0097180024

On July 29, armed clashes broke out in the Ein- al-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon between mainstream faction Fatah and an opposing extremist group, killing at least 13 people — most of them militants.

The refugee camp is the largest among 12 Palestinian camps in the country, housing around 80,000 to 250,000 Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations agency for refugees from Palestine (UNRWA).

Around a quarter of the camp’s 80,000 residents have been displaced since the fighting began.

Apart from the gulf nations, countries such as Germany and Britain have also issued similar warnings, urging their citizens against traveling to Lebanon.