The British government has warned thousands of nationals in Lebanon to leave immediately or risk becoming trapped in a warzone following reports of a rocket attack on a playing field in Majdal Shams which killed 12 young people. Tensions in the Middle East have escalated following the incident, with Israel claiming that the militant group Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon and backed by Iran, was behind the attack, though Hezbollah denies this. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer chaired a Cobra emergency meeting on Tuesday amid fears of a potential war in the region.
The attack marks the deadliest incident on the de-facto border with Lebanon since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah escalated in October 2020. Majdal Shams is one of four towns in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, home to around 25,000 members of the Arabic-speaking Druze religious and ethnic group. Late on Tuesday, at least one explosion hit a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, which is a base for Hezbollah. Israel’s army confirmed that it had carried out a strike and was targeting the Hezbollah commander responsible for the attack on Majdal Shams.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has urged the estimated 16,000 British nationals currently in Lebanon to leave immediately while commercial flights are still running. Mr Lammy said, “We cannot guarantee we’ll be able to evacuate everyone immediately if the conflict escalates. People may be forced to shelter in place and history teaches us that in a crisis like this one, it is far safer to leave while commercial flights are still running rather than running the risk of becoming trapped in a warzone.”
Hezbollah is a heavily armed militant and political movement based in Lebanon and Israel’s northern neighbour. It is financed, equipped, and trained by Iran. Mr Lammy said the government was “working with Foreign Office consular teams to make sure we are prepared for all scenarios”. He added, “My message, then, to British nationals in Lebanon is therefore quite simple: leave.”
Conservative Shadow Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell warned of a risk of further escalation on the border between Lebanon and Israel, known as the Blue Line. He urged all parties involved to show restraint to avoid a widening of the conflict
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