Foreign Secretary David Lammy was on Monday ensuring plans to evacuate Britons from Lebanon are fully up to speed if the situation worsens dramatically.
British citizens are also being advised to leave the country even if flights available would not take them directly back to the UK or even a European city.
A Foreign Office source said: “The Foreign Secretary is in the department thoroughly testing our Lebanon evacuation plans with officials.”
Britain has two Royal Navy ships, with helicopters, in the eastern Mediterranean which could be used as part of an evacuation operation.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We have sent extra consular, Border Force and military teams to the region to support our embassy and undertake contingency planning with the potential for exit routes out of Lebanon, including roads, being affected or closed due to events escalating.”
Flights out of Lebanon were selling out as people flee the country ahead of a feared escalation of violence in the Middle East.
“As the Foreign Office have made very clear, commercial routes remain available,” No10 added.
“British nationals in the region should make the most of these immediately.”
Several airlines including Lufthansa have already suspended flights to Beirut, and some to Tel Aviv.
The US Embassy in Beirut is stressing to American citizens in Lebanon: “Many flights have sold out; however, commercial transportation options to leave Lebanon remain available.
“We encourage those who wish to depart Lebanon to book any ticket available to them, even if that flight does not depart immediately or does not follow their first-choice route.”
The G7 wealthy group of nations, which includes the US, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Canada and Italy, urged restraint and de-escalation in the Middle East on Monday, saying that recent events “threatened to ignite a broader conflict in the region” beyond the Gaza war.
Today, I spoke with my G7 counterparts to urgently push for regional de-escalation.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) August 4, 2024
The UK continues to work around the clock with international partners to reduce tensions in the Middle East.https://t.co/NqBYv1Ib7s
Mr Lammy tweeted: “Today, I spoke with my G7 counterparts to urgently push for regional de-escalation.
“The UK continues to work around the clock with international partners to reduce tensions in the Middle East.”
The US is deploying additional military power in the Middle East as a defensive measure with a goal of de-escalating tensions in the region, a White House official said on Sunday.
The Foreign Office has for days urged British citizens to leave Lebanon and family members of UK diplomats have left the country.
British citizens in Lebanon have been urged to register with the Foreign Office, a first step towards a possible evacuation mission.
Canada told its citizens to avoid all travel to Israel, saying the regional conflict endangers security.
France has told its citizens to leave Iran.
Regional tensions have spiralled following the assassination on Wednesday of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, in Tehran a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, a senior military commander from the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Both groups are backed by Iran.
US President Joe Biden was convening his national security team in the situation room on Monday to discuss developments in the Middle East, the White House said, adding that he would speak with Jordan’s King Abdullah as well.
American news service Axios reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his counterpart from G7 countries that Iran and Hezbollah could start attacking Israel as early as Monday, citing three sources briefed on the call.
But Mr Blinken, according to Axios, said it was unclear how Iran and Hezbollah would attack and did not know the exact timing.
When asked about the report, the State Department referred to a readout of the call, where it said the ministers discussed “the urgent need for de-escalation in the Middle East.”
The Pentagon said on Friday it would deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the region.
“The overall goal is to turn the temperature down in the region, deter and defend against those attacks, and avoid regional conflict,” Jonathan Finer, the White House’s deputy national security adviser, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” programme.
There was a “very close call” of regional conflagration in April, he added, when Iran launched an attack on Israeli territory with drones and missiles after what it called an Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus on April 1 that killed seven officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Syrian capital.
