The French and British governments are to help evacuate South Africans caught up in fighting in Lebanon, the Foreign Affairs Department said on Wednesday.

"The Department of Foreign Affairs is in the process of advising families in South Africa and nationals requiring assistance in Lebanon of the arrangements for their evacuation," it said in a statement.

"Once more, the South African government reiterates its appeal to nationals and families to directly co-operate with officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs in its endeavors to bring back South Africans under extremely difficult conditions," it added.

South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma expressed her appreciation to the French and British governments for this humanitarian gesture.

The South African representative to Syria, Ambassador Mohamed Dangor, continues to render consular assistance to the nationals affected.

Meanwhile, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (COSATU) will ask the government to withdraw its ambassador from Israel in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Its president Willie Madisha said on Wednesday that they would also push for the Israeli ambassador to go home until the Palestine problem has been solved.

Madisha said Cosatu would mobilize its national and international partners to stop the genocide in Palestine.

Source: Xinhua