Beirut building housing Al Jazeera, embassies evacuated after Israeli threats

Beirut (Quds News Network)- A central Beirut building home to offices of Al Jazeera and the embassies of Norway and Azerbaijan was evacuated on Thursday after Israeli threats.

“The building administration received three phone calls claiming to be from Israel, repeating an order to evacuate the building,” a Lebanese source told AFP, requesting anonymity and adding: “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”.

However, Norway’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Ragnhild Haland Simenstad told AFP in a written statement that the Norwegian embassy in Beirut received a bomb threat.

“We can confirm that the building where the Norwegian embassy in Beirut is located has received a bomb threat today,” Simenstad said.

Al Jazeera’s Lebanon bureau chief Mazen Ibrahim told Lebanese news portal Naharnet that building’s administration received three calls telling everyone to leave the building.

He said it was unclear who called in the warning, added the report.