UK and US issue urgent plea for citizens to leave Lebanon amid fears of escalation

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The UK and the US issued urgent pleas for citizens to “leave Lebanon now”, amid rising concerns of a wider Middle East war, as they deployed military personnel, fighter jet squadrons and consular experts to help in the embattled region.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on Saturday said Britons should use any commercial options still working, acknowledging potential exit routes were already limited or closed.

It added that the Border Force, consular officials and military personnel had been deployed to support embassy staff there. Foreign secretary David Lammy warned that “tensions are high and the situation could deteriorate rapidly”.

The US embassy in Beirut urged its nationals to “book any ticket available” out of Lebanon, noting that several flights had already been cancelled and that military evacuations were rare.

The Pentagon had already announced that the US would move a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East and maintain an aircraft carrier in the region in preparation for any escalation. Jordan also issued an emergency directive telling its citizens to leave “as soon as possible’“.

The Canadian government followed with a statement saying “now is the time to leave”. France on Sunday invited its citizens to leave Lebanon and advised against travelling to the country due to the risk of military escalation.

Earlier this week, Italy and Germany urged its citizens to depart the Lebanese territory.

It comes amid concerns of a full-blown regional war, after Iran vowed vengeance following the assassinations of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday and Fuad Shukr, a senior commander in the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in Beirut on Tuesday.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has said a short-range projectile was behind the killing of the Hamas political chief and accused the US of supporting the attack.

Israel, which has been blamed for both killings, has vowed to eliminate leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas over its 7 October attack that sparked a seige and the heaviest-ever bombardment of Gaza.

Hamas killed over 1,100 people and took more than 250 hostages in the October massacre.

Since then the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry says Israel’s ferocious bombing of Gaza has killed more than 39,500 people, the majority of them women and children.

Hezbollah fired around 50 rockets from Lebanon toward upper Galilee overnight, prompting Israel to activate its Iron Dome defence system, according to reports.

US president Joe Biden on Saturday expressed hope Iran would stand down despite its threat to avenge the assassination of the Hamas leader.

Asked by reporters whether Iran would stand down, Mr Biden said, “I hope so. I don’t know.”

Mr Biden previously voiced concern that the violence in the Middle East could escalate, adding that the killing of a top Hamas leader, who was also a negotiator in ongoing talks, has “not helped” efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

Mr Biden told reporters he had a “very direct” conversation with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We have the basis for a ceasefire. He should move on it and they should move on it now,” he added, echoing calls for a truce from his secretary of state Antony Blinken.

Israeli media reported that the call on Thursday, which US vice president Kamala Harris also joined, had gone so badly president Biden allegedly told Mr Netanyahu to “stop bulls****ing me” over his claims of progress in a hostage ceasefire deal with Gaza.

This exchange, first reported by Israel’s Channel 12 on Saturday night, was allegedly followed by the US leader telling Mr Netanyahu “don’t take the president for granted”. The US is Israel’s biggest supplier of weapons.

The Independent reached out to Israel’s prime minister’s office for comment but is yet to receive a reply.

Mr Netanyahu has said Israel is determined to win nothing less than “total victory” against Hamas, and that he is working for a ceasefire he hopes to achieve soon.

On Saturday, an Israeli delegation led by the Mossad chief arrived in Cairo, Egyptian officials said. However, Mr Netanyahu has been accused of putting his personal interests first and deliberately prolonging the war, with Israeli media publishing alleged leaks of a recent heated meeting between the premier and his security and defence chiefs.

The premier reportedly shouted at his team, who accused him of introducing conditions in the truce hostage deal that he knew Hamas would not accept.

Airlines, including US carriers United and Delta, Germany’s Lufthansa and India’s flag-carrier Air India have scrambled to re-route away from the Middle East airspace and cancelled flights to Tel Aviv.

Israeli media reported on Saturday that some internal flights within Israel had been cancelled.

Israel continued its ferocious bombardment of Gaza, with an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced persons in Gaza city killing at least 15 Palestinians on Saturday.

It came hours after two strikes in the occupied West Bank killed nine militants including a local Hamas commander, Hamas said.

The Israeli military said the first of two West Bank airstrikes hit a vehicle in a town near the city of Tulkarm, targeting a militant cell it said was on its way to carry out an attack.

Following the sirens that sounded in northern Israel overnight, approximately 30 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon, most of which were intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array, it said.

One projectile was identified falling in he area of Beit Hillel, and several fell in open areas. No injuries were reported. Shortly after, the IDF struck the Hezbollah launcher from which the projectiles were launched and additional Hezbollah infrastructure in the area of Marjayoun in southern Lebanon. In addition, IDF artillery fired to remove threats in the area of Odaisseh, the IDF said.