The UK government has issued an urgent call for British nationals in Lebanon to leave immediately, as the conflict between Israel and Lebanon escalates, with more than 500 people reported killed in the last 24 hours.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and Ministry of Defence (MoD) are bolstering contingency operations to support British nationals in the region.

Around 700 UK troops are being deployed to Cyprus, ready to support evacuation or emergency response efforts. This military deployment is supported by Border Force and FCDO officials, ensuring all necessary preparations are in place for a swift response if the situation worsens.

The Royal Air Force has transport helicopters and aircraft on standby, while RFA Mounts Bay and Royal Navy destroyer HMS Duncan remain stationed in the eastern Mediterranean to assist with potential evacuations and support operations.

Defence Secretary John Healey stressed the urgency of the situation, stating: “Events in the past hours and days have demonstrated how volatile this situation is, which is why our message is clear: British nationals should leave now.”

He also praised the UK military personnel deploying to the region for their professionalism and commitment. Healey reiterated the government’s call for all sides to step back from the violence and work towards an immediate ceasefire.

The UK’s contingency plan builds on an already significant diplomatic and military presence in the region. RAF Akrotiri, a key UK base in Cyprus, will play a central role in supporting British citizens if the situation deteriorates further.

The UK has been closely monitoring the unfolding conflict, which has raised concerns of wider instability in the Middle East. Ministers have held several meetings with intelligence chiefs, diplomats, and military leaders to assess the situation and prepare for further escalation.

The UK government’s warning comes after reports of increasing violence in Lebanon, following retaliatory strikes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants. The conflict has triggered a mass exodus of civilians, with foreign nationals among those seeking safety. The FCDO has advised against all travel to Lebanon since the start of the escalation, emphasising the dangers posed by the conflict.

While diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire continue, the UK’s immediate priority is the safety of its citizens. The British government has confirmed that it will maintain a strong military presence in the region to support British nationals and allies. Ministers are working closely with international partners to monitor the situation and provide necessary assistance.

This potential evacuation operation is similar to Operation Highbrow in 2006 when the British Ministry of Defence undertook a large-scale evacuation of civilians from Beirut during the Lebanon War. In fact, the image at the topic of this article was taken during this operation.

Helicopters initially transported the most vulnerable to Cyprus, followed by Royal Navy ships ferrying evacuees across the Mediterranean Sea. This operation, involving both Royal Navy ships and Royal Air Force helicopters, was the largest evacuation the UK had been involved in since Dunkirk and before the Aghan withdrawal.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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73 COMMENTS

    • Send Hezzbollah the bill, it was their decision to fire the first shot, they could have stayed out of this conflict but chose to fight in support of Hamas.

      • Send them both the bill, the Middle East is curse on us all, never be peace there. Ordinary people who are not nutters always suffer. And we have for 70 plus years foot the bill one way or another.

      • Absolutely! I lived in Western Galilee in northern Israel so I know what I am talking about when I say that people need to remember that Israel lives in a very, very tough neighbourhood that only respects strength – you hit me, I will hit you twice as hard.

        Hamas started this war by their total barbarism on 7th-Oct. Nobody talks about how they use their own people as human shields and about how they take the aid, fuel and medicine for themselves and their fighters. How they don’t let their own people into the tunnels they built for shelter but are quite happy to leave them exposed in a combat zone because it suits their narrative.

        I do get pissed off when I see the anti-Israel protests – especially the ‘Queers for Palestine’ bunch. They don’t have a damn clue what they are talking about. If you are queer over there and Hamas get a hold of you they don’t shake your hand and say thank you for your support. They take you to the top of the highest building they can find – and throw you off it to see if you bounce!!

        Waken up people – Israel has the balls to fight fire with even more fire and I wish them every success!

        • Honestly I don’t see the argument. Every Israeli key military infrastructure is situated in civilian dense areas? Human shields. Tunnels? The same one Israel is pumping thousands of litres of water into? So you would rather the civilians drown underground where the atrocities are hidden. That much is clear.

          With regards to queers, I think you’ll find that they won’t give a toss about who you fancy when everyone’s starving, you see such matters are thrown out the window when it’s about survival, they’ve got enough on their plate to be throwing people of any buildings that haven’t been flattened already.

          The way they are fighting is to prolong conflict. Peace talks were in motion yet they had the bright idea of what I’d call terror by sparking up thousands of pagers and lighting a new conflict area. Let’s not forget what this conflict is, they get to use all their shiny new toys under the pretext of justice, then sell them onto other countries that repeat as they have been.

      • the whole region should be left to eat itself and do the world a favour we eliminated Gaddafi and Saddam, for less than Iran has done time is coming to deal with the Iranians one and for all

    • Sir Keir has said that 10,000 Brits should leave on commercial aircraft right now. There are two commercial airports in the entire country. How many empty seats does he think there’ll be? The impracticability astounds me.

      If the time to leave is now (as Sir Keir insists “…really, really clear: now is the time to leave”), the Navy should start the evacuation. However according to the Telegraph, John Healey says, “Our government is ensuring all preparations are in place to support British Nationals should the situation deteriorate.” Not only are these badly mixed messages, it lays the goverment open to the charge that it isn’t starting the evacuation on cost grounds: that the PM is hoping people will pay for their own flights and the Navy will have to do less.

      • No you misunderstand our government and PM. His government have repeatedly instructed British citizens to leave for the last 4-5 weeks.
        They have had plenty of time to buy a ticket, board a plane and fly somewhere outside the conflict zone. The British tax payer should not be picking up the bill or risking our armed forces lives saving people who are frankly too dumb to follow instructions and think they know better.
        Consulate, embassy staff and humanitarian aid workers are different they frequently remain until the last minute and then help evacuating, don’t have any issues with that. The rest of the 10,000 “British” citizens should do as instructed. Leave now.

        • Thousand of people who live in the Lebanon have ignored advice to leave their homes and businesses to become refugees. It’s no surprise that they haven’t followed instructions; that’s one heck of an ask by a new and largely untested government. I can’t imagine how I’d react if the Foreign Office told me in a advisory way to give up my life and buy a plane ticket to they-don’t-care-where with no help guaranteed when I got there. I also might choose to leave it until the last minute. Some will have family they can impose on in the UK, other may not and will have no idea what to do when they arrive at Heathrow.

          I think calling them dumb is a bit harsh.

      • Those that we evacuate we have to house etc, that is how it works. If they leave of their own free will then not so. Yes they have been told to leave weeks ago but not sure its that easy just up and go when your life etc is there.
        We are a bit full at the moment Afghan/Ukraine/ Boat people, etc. Not sure what people expect the Government to do?

        • they should all have British roots or residence status and must have some kind of family support and people who they can turn to. they were out in a country which will always be a warzone they’re getting a free ride home. I don’t think the nation has any obligations t them financial or otherwise

      • kier is out of his depth already sleaze is in the air. id wager thousands of people who voted for them wouldn’t do it now.the minsters Rayner and reeves are an embarrassment.

  2. “ In fact, the image at the topic of this article was taken during this operation.”

    should read

    In fact, the image at the top of this article was taken during this operation.

  3. Has an oddly familiar feel to it…

    I hope everyone realises how dangerous this is. There are plenty of crazies out there who would love nothing better than to hit an RN [ok RFA bout that doesn’t matter to them] ship.

    I do have to question why the Bay in theatre doesn’t have CIWS fitted. She will need at least a T45 around to protect her.

    • Infact Hezbollah itself would like nothing better that to attack and sink an RN ship or down an RN rotor…and they are capable of doing that, they have plenty of anti-shipping missiles and anti air missiles..this would not be a rescue from a benign environment. British forces would be entering an essentially hostile nation.

      As for sending a RN or RFA ship to the eastern med without CIW systems fitted, that was very poor and needs investigation as to why it happened, the eastern med is a warzone with 2 hot conflicts and a load of heavily armed groups hate our guts.

      • Saddam was dealt with for doing less than the mad mullahs of Iran have done it is surely time to deal with them and the poison that they feed around the WHOLE PLANET

        • I don’t disagree, the problem is multifaceted and a mix of domestic western politics, regional politics, geopolitical considerations , geostrategic considerations, strategic and operational considerations.

          basically it’s a f%cking nightmare.

          Iraq was a walk in the park compared to Iran

          1) the Iraqi leadership did not have the active support of pretty much any of the population ( they all wanted him dead).
          2) the Iraqi leader was never fully plugged into terror and extremist organisation in the way Iran is ( it was a far more secular power).
          3) its next door neighbours were perfectly happy to facilitate its invasion and conquest by the west.
          4) there was a structure of UN Security Council resolutions that had been breached by Iraq that could be used for geopolitical and Legal cover.
          5)iraq air defences were essentially reduced over a number of years via a pretty robust air interdiction campaign.

          even then it essentially lead to the west engaged in almost nine years of war in iraq at a cost of 1.1 trillion dollars, and the rise of Islamic state, that the west is still fighting.

          Iran will be far worse in so many ways..and quite Frankly would have Russia and china rubbing their hands in glee.

          World wide Geopolitics

          1) there is no way to get any form of un resolution or legal cover, this would be seen across the globe as blatant western aggression. Profoundly destructive to our international standing if we win and if we loss the long war that followed ( as we did in Afghanistan) possibly devastating when it comes to what will be to key war of the 21c china and friends vs the west and Friends.
          2) there is no secure land base and ally who would agree to facilitate an invasions ( see regional politics and operational issues.
          3) Russia and china will make so much hay it will strengthen our core enemies geopolitically.

          regional political and strategic.
          1) a number of western allies in the region are living on a knife edge. Very specificity Jordan is one slip away from the monarchy losing control in an uprising that would lead a new Iran like state and a route into the heart of Israel ( it’s actually one of the strategic goals to ferment an uprising in Jordan and it’s been actively arming groups ready for the trigger.
          2) because of point one there would be no easy bases next to iran, no easy land route.

          Western geopolitics impact
          1) because there would be UN mandate it would be almost impossible to get wider western agreements..this would just evidence more split in the west…linking to showing a general weakness in the west reducing deterrence against Russian and Chinese aggression.

          domestic issues
          1) any government that does it will suffer mass protest at the start, that will slowly over time get worse..in the end the government that started it will loss massive levels of popularity and be broken..look at the Blair government.
          2) domestic politics in the west will not support a long war, so in the end there will be a pull out and we would risk another humiliation such as Afghanistan.
          3) it will not be painless for the west we will see a massive upsurge in terror risk.

          Operational

          1) no easy way in would essentially require a massive amphibious invasion via an enclosed sea, that is easy to mine and close..or possibly if you could bribe Turkey you could invade via the north of the country.
          2) Iran is a country around that is big..640,000 square miles of nasty and difficult terrain, that is 2.5 times the bigger than Afghanistan.
          3) like Afghanistan is has porous boarders with nations that harbour extremists..so you will never be able to stop an insurgency..very much like Afghanistan but 2,5time a bigger problem.
          4) the majority of the population does not like the government, but there is a 20% hard core who would not give it up.

          Geostrategy
          1) the west needs to focusing all its resources into trying to deter china or Russian sparking a world war ( mainly china to be honest..as they are preparing and have the strategic depth to fight a long world war).
          2) losing 1-2 trillion dollars on what will be the third and biggest by far sandbox war is profoundly counter productive to western military power.

          so that is the issue, what do we do..

          1) take a lesson from how the west won the cold war
          2) take a lesson from how china is getting to a point it could conceivably win a war with the west.

          1) arm the hell up..fill the gulf with so many warships and capabilities Iran cannot sneeze without an RN or US navy warship being up its left nostril looking for an infraction.
          2) throw money at the countries around Iran to make sure they stay our friends not Irans ( in this Im taking Jordan…we need to be pumping money and resources into Jordan to ensure it has a happy stable population and a secure government)
          3) Massive levels of political warfare..destroy the government from within and without..china has 3 million political warfare operatives attacking the west..the west needs to throw massive political warfare operations at Iran..80% of Irans don’t like their government…the west can destabilise and destroy it from within if we stop thinking about warfare as bombs.

    • I question in general how many Phalanx mounts are actually serviceable across the entire navy. Earlier this year PoW deployed to Steadfast Defender with none fitted and two Tides (also completely unarmed) and only a single frigate escort; not a single one of the Tide class has one fitted since CSG 21. The T-45s in long term PiP upgrades have them all absent which surely should allow mounts for the active ships to receive some – but no. With the 8 T-26s (16 guns) , 3 FSS (6) and 4-6 MRSS (potentially up to 12 unless they go with the 40mm or something completely different) and RFA Argus’s new singe gun I wonder how they’re going to work around the substantial increase in demand for them when they already seem to be flagging the availability rates.

      NavyLookout did a good article with a chart showing the numbers currently and in the future. We already have less systems than we do mounting points and potentially have up 34 more mounts joining the navy in the coming 10-15 years.

      • The issue is more trained operators and maintainers from what I hear.

        A contract was awarded a while back to upgrade and maintain.

        So few guns are exposed to the elements I can see that being not that much of an issue.

        Given that T31 are on 40mm and that you can always assume 30% of the fleet is in deep refit I’m not sure there is that much of a defect in Phalanx units?

        • I saw reported recently that the new Bofors 40mm MK-4 being brought in on the T-31 only requires 30% of the maintenance time that the DS30M mount does – and that’s already designed to be a high rate of readiness and easy to maintain system; assuming that report was correct of course. If true it’d be a no brainer to expand the use of the new gun across the current and future fleet if maintenance of the current (and very important) CIWS systems is struggling so much.

          Of course it’s never that simple but it makes sense from the armchair perspective.

          • that 40mm Bofors would be a perfect sized gun for the pointy end of a river. you could, if you wanted, mount the 6 inch gun from the Blake, which US in storage in the sheds behind fountain lake jetty in Bromley as are several phalanx units undergoing manufacturers upgrades and refits.

      • much of the weaponry from Montrose and Monmouth are still in storage in Portsmouth naval base this equipment should have been redeployed elsewhere as soon as it was removed. i cannot remember what the phalanx fit on those two T23’S was when they were dumped up Fareham creek.

    • the case for a medium sized HLP is made more apparent in situations like this the ability to get larger numbers into or from the coast is best done by chopper’s a converted ship from trade could be a cheap way to get the ability enhanced

  4. How much of this is helping with evacuating British nationals from Lebanon and how much is re-inforcing the British Sovereign Bases at RAF Akrotiri/Episcopi and Dhekelia against Russian/Iran/Houthi threats?

  5. This isn’t a conflict between Israel and Lebanon. It is a retaliation against Hezbollah, a terrorist quasi state within a state, for the constant attacks on northern Israel. Israel would be doing a favour to Lebanon if it could destroy Hezbollah..

    • Agree and I think Israel is doing a decent job decapitating the head of Hezbollah and going after their munitions stockpiles, which of course are stored in homes, schools and warehouses inside civilian areas. Hezbollah and Hamas use the civilian populations as human shields. Utter cowards.

  6. I stated this 4 weeks ago when the first governmental advice came out for British citizens to leave Lebanon.
    They have been warned repeatedly. Any citizens of the UK still there only have themselves to blame for any subsequent ill fortune that befalls them.
    We cannot not, not should we expect our armed forces to risk their lives to save people too damn stupid to listen to what they are instructed to do.
    Our consulate and embassy staff are different as are the humanitarian aid workers. Everyone else should have left already.

    • Great words. There has to be a dam good reason for “British” citizens to still be in Lebanon, and anyone rescued later on, who was not there on “government”, “News- reporting” or “humanitarian” business should pay for their trip back out.

    • people should be more intelligent than to go to the cesspool on the planet. that part of the world has been and always Will be in a state of war

    • labanon and Israel are always on the brink of a military issue. people there must know that. they should have their own plans for get out of the country already.

  7. Interesting topic. There are about one million British Passport holders in Southern Africa-what if things were to fall apart here!!

  9. Never ends, does it? We had a similar situation in 1976 when I was on RFA Stromness. We, together with a frigate, were stationed off Haifa ready to evacuate Brits from internal disorder in Lebanon. Never happened in the end.

  10. Interesting debate on present RMT and Nautilus Strike action should RFA Mounts Bay be used? Maybe the Cabinet Office and Treasury will make a proper offer and realise the RFA is an important resource!!!!!!

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