Thousands of UK nationals must immediately leave Lebanon or risk “becoming trapped in a warzone” following a rocket attack in the Golan Heights, the foreign secretary has warned.
A rocket strike on a playing field in Israeli-occupied Majdal Shams killed 12 young people on Saturday, sharply escalating fears of a new war in the region.
Israel says the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group backed by Iran was behind the attack, though the group has denied this.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the estimated 16,000 British people currently in Lebanon should “leave” while “commercial flights are still running”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer chaired a Cobra emergency meeting on Tuesday amid tensions in the Middle East.
Saturday’s attack is deadliest incident on what the de-facto Israel border with Lebanon since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah escalated in October.
Majdal Shams is one of four towns in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights where about 25,000 members of the Arabic-speaking Druze religious and ethnic group live.
In retaliation, Israel said it has hit several Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
Hezbollah is a heavily armed militant and political movement based in Lebanon, Israel’s northern neighbour is financed, equipped, and trained by Iran.
Mr Lammy said the government “cannot guarantee we’ll be able to evacuate everyone immediately” if the conflict escelates.
He said he was “working with Foreign Office consular teams to make sure we are prepared for all scenarios”.
He added: “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.
“My message, then, to British nationals in Lebanon is therefore quite simple: leave.”
Mr Lammy told MPs: “We have begun the registration scheme that allows UK nationals to register their presence in Lebanon so we know where they are.
“Our estimation is that about 16,000 UK nationals are in the region, but of course asking people to register does enable us to know who is there and, of course, we urge people to leave on the many commercial flights that are available currently from Lebanon, to leave and make their way to Europe and back home.”
Conservative Shadow foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell warned of a risk of further escalation the border between Lebanon and Israel – known as the Blue Line.
He said: “We don’t want to see a widening of this painful conflict and the opening of a new front would be in nobody’s interest.
“If we’re to avoid it, all involved must show restraint.”