Lebanon-Israel latest: Starmer tells Britons to leave Lebanon immediately as UK troops readied for evacuation
Sir Keir Starmer has urged Britons in Lebanon to “leave immediately” as Israel intensifies its bombing campaign against Hezbollah.
Speaking on a flight to the United Nations HQ in New York, Sir Keir said: “The most important message from me to British nationals in Lebanon is to leave immediately. It is important that we’ve been really, really clear: now is the time to leave.”
It comes as hundreds of British troops are being sent to Cyprus to prepare for a possible evacuation of Britons from Lebanon.
Around 700 soldiers are deploying imminently to assist hundreds of those already in Cyprus and waiting to help stranded British citizens. Government officials fear that there may be more than 10,000 British citizens still in Lebanon.
Rocket sirens were sounded across Tel Aviv this morning as the Israeli military said it intercepted a surface-to-surface missile fired from Lebanon.
This is the first time Hezbollah has targeted Tel Aviv, in central Israel, since near-daily rocket fire across the border late last year following the 7 October Hamas attack and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s retaliatory war on Gaza.
