UK braces for emergency evacuation, France urges nationals to leave Lebanon as tensions escalate in Middle East

While France is urging nationals to leave Lebanon as soon as possible, the United Kingdom is stepping up preparations for the possible evacuation of British nationals from the country, following the last week’s assassinations in Beirut and Tehran.

UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Ministry of Defence released a statement on Saturday in which they stated that consular experts, border force officials and military personnel have been deployed to the region as part of planning for “a range of possible conflict scenarios”.

Tensions escalated in the Middle East after the death of two prime faces in Hezbollah and Hamas. Earlier this week, the Israel Defence Force (IDF) said that the Lebanese group’s commander Fuad Shukr was in an airstrike. Days after the attack news broke that the head of Hamas’ political bureau Ismail Haniey was killed while he was staying in a guesthouse in Iran. While Israel did not claim the responsibility of Haniyeh’s death, the Jewish nation took most of the blame.

More from World

Nepal's new PM pays homage to people died during the Gen Z protest in her first national address This Week in Explainers: How recovering from Gen-Z protests is a Himalayan task for Nepal

In the Saturday, announcement the British government also mentioned that landing ship RFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Duncan are already in the eastern Mediterranean, and the air force is putting transport helicopters on standby. The government also repeated calls for British nationals in Lebanon to leave while “commercial options are still available”, joining India and several other countries.

France and Sweden raise alarm

On Sunday, France made the same request to its citizens as the tensions in the region reached an all-time high.

“In a highly volatile security context, we once again call the attention of French nationals, particularly those passing through, to the fact that direct commercial flights and ones with stopovers to France are still available, and we invite them to make their arrangements now to leave Lebanon as soon as possible,” The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

‘The cries of this widow will echo’: In first public remarks, Erika Kirk warns Charlie’s killers they’ve ‘unleashed a fire’

Trump urges Nato to back sanctions on Russia, calls for 50–100% tariffs on China

The European nation estimates that around 23,000 of its citizens live in Lebanon, and last month around 10,000 French citizens were visiting the country. Earlier this week, India, Canada and Australia issued similar advisories.

Sweden also announced the closure of its embassy in Beirut and called on its nationals to leave the country.

With inputs from agencies.