The Finnish embassy in Lebanon is helping Finnish citizens leave the country, but it says an official evacuation is not underway.
Speaking to Finnish news agency STT, Finland's ambassador to Lebanon, Anne Meskanen, emphasised that Finland is not officially evacuating Finns from the country. Instead, the embassy is assisting Finns to get on commercial flights or ones organised in cooperation with the EU.
There are still around 50 Finns in Lebanon, including embassy staff, according to Meskanen.
Commercial broadcaster MTV initially reported on the assistance for Finns on Friday.
Despite the escalation of the war between Israel and the extremist organisation Hezbollah, new Finnish peacekeepers are set to arrive in Lebanon as planned in about two months, Lieutenant Colonel Jukka Honkanen, commander of the Finnish peacekeeping force in Lebanon, said this week.
Some 10,000 peacekeepers from more than 40 countries are currently serving in Unifil, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.