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UK Prepares for Potential Lebanon Evacuation Amidst Escalating Israel-Gaza Conflict

UK Prepares for Potential Lebanon Evacuation Amidst Escalating Israel-Gaza Conflict
  • PublishedAugust 8, 2024

With fears growing of a wider regional conflict stemming from Israel’s war in Gaza, the UK is mobilizing over 1,000 military personnel to potentially evacuate British nationals from Lebanon, Sky News reports.

Hundreds of soldiers, Royal Marines, sailors, and aviators have already been deployed to a key RAF base in Cyprus, serving as a hub for any evacuation efforts. Additional troops are on standby in the UK, ready to deploy at short notice.

This move follows heightened concerns that Iran and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group in Lebanon, will imminently launch retaliatory attacks against Israel, potentially triggering a wider Israeli assault on Lebanon.

The UK government has developed contingency plans, including the use of two warships (HMS Duncan and RFA Cardigan Bay) currently in the region, to assist in evacuating thousands of British citizens living in Lebanon. The deployment of RAF transport aircraft from Cyprus to Beirut, similar to the 2021 Afghanistan evacuation, is another option being considered.

The Foreign Office has been urging British nationals to leave Lebanon while commercial routes remain available, as numerous airlines have already cancelled flights.

The situation has escalated since Hamas’s attacks on Israel on October 7th, leading to a war in Gaza and subsequent cross-border clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli Defense Forces. Tensions further spiked in late July after Israel accused Hezbollah of a rocket attack that killed Israeli children, prompting Israel to target a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon.

This escalation, coupled with the assassination of Hamas’s top political leader in Tehran, has led to vows of revenge from Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah. The US is leading diplomatic efforts to prevent a full-scale Middle East war.