Foreign Minister Melanie Joly in a statement called for Canadians to depart while commercial flights remain in operation.

"The security situation in Lebanon is becoming increasingly volatile and unpredictable due to sustained and escalating violence between Hezbollah and Israel and could deteriorate further without warning," she said.

"If the armed conflict intensifies," she said, it could make it harder to leave the country and for Canada to provide consular services to tens of thousands of Canadians believed to be living in the country.

Ottawa is not offering to evacuate Canadians and an advisory warns against travel to Lebanon.

Tensions have been rising with increased exchanges of fire between Israel and Lebanon's resistance movement Hezbollah since Israel's war on Gaza began on 7 October.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israeli forces are winding up the most intense part of the Gaza war and will redeploy to the northern border, although he cast the move as defensive.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online