Beirut, Lebanon

A central building in downtown Beirut, which is home to offices, including Qatar broadcaster Al Jazeera and the Norwegian embassy, was evacuated after it received threats allegedly from Israel, a Lebanese security source said. 

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Al Jazeera earlier said that its downtown Beirut office had been evacuated after the building received several warnings, without saying who issued them.

"The building administration received three phone calls claiming to be from Israel, repeating an order to evacuate the building," the source told AFP. 

On the request of anonymity, the source added, "As the calls were via an app, it was not possible to determine their source or seriousness" so the building containing dozens of offices and firms "was evacuated".

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Norway’s embassy was also evacuated following a “bomb threat,” the Norwegian foreign ministry said.

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"We can confirm that the building where the Norwegian embassy in Beirut is located has received a bomb threat today," Norway's foreign ministry spokeswoman Ragnhild Haland Simenstad told AFP in a written statement. The small number of staff still working there had been evacuated.

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"The acts of war in Lebanon make the security situation very unpredictable and tense. This threat is another example of that," Simenstad said. 

"The Foreign Ministry is continuously assessing the situation, including the safety of our colleagues who work in Beirut. The embassy has already implemented measures, as we have routines for in situations like this."

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Meanwhile, Mazen Ibrahim, Al Jazeera's Lebanon bureau chief, said that the building's administration received three calls telling everyone to leave the building, which he said houses the embassies of Norway and Azerbaijan, as well as dozens of offices. 

However, the alleged Israeli threats were deemed to be fake, a Lebanese security source and a diplomatic source told Reuters.

Disclaimer: WION takes the utmost care to accurately and responsibly report conflicts in West Asia involving Israel, Iran, Syria, Iraq, and non-state actors like the Islamic State, among others. In this context, claims and counterclaims are being made online and offline. WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, social media posts, photos, and videos.

(With inputs from agencies)