Brits urged to take last mercy flight from war-battered Beirut as Israel pummels Hezbollah and Hamas

Israel expanded its bombardment in Lebanon today, hitting Beirut’s southern suburbs with a dozen airstrikes and striking a Palestinian refugee camp deep in the north

Hundreds of Brits will tomorrow catch the last mercy flight out of war-battered Beirut as Israel pummels Hezbollah and Hamas targets in Lebanon.

The onslaught has led to fears for up to 2,000 British expats who have not yet fled the warzone and may have to be rescued by the Royal Navy or stay and take cover. It comes as the Middle East braced for an Israeli revenge attack against Iran which could spark a much wider and deadly regional war between enemy states.

Some sources from the US and Israel tonight suggested a major Israeli attack against Iran is coming soon - sparking fears of all-out war if Iran responds. Israel is preparing a massive revenge attack on Iran, possibly on its nuclear complexes and or military machine following Tuesday’s 180-strong barrage from Tehran.

The Middle East is on a knife edge and teetering towards all-out conflict and one of the architects of its beginning Sinwar is still bunkered up in Gaza’s tunnel network and in control. British officials have urged all Britons to leave Lebanon immediately, with Sunday’s flight due to be the last - and to register for evacuation.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy, said: “With demand falling, and the security situation deteriorating, there is no guarantee other options to leave quickly will become available. I urge anyone who wants to leave to register now.”

The Foreign Office said: “The safety of British nationals is the top priority and around 700 troops and Foreign Office and Home Office staff, including Border Force officers, have been deployed to Cyprus for contingency planning.”

This is the countdown to Monday’s one year anniversary of his October 7 massacre which sparked war in Gaza and Lebanon. A military source in Israel said: “The Israeli Defence Force is preparing a response to the unprecedented Iranian attack on Israeli civilians.”

As many as 250 Britons can on Sunday catch the fourth and last UK rescue flight out of the stricken Lebanese capital’s Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport as Israel closed in on Hezbollah targets. Royal Navy Type 45 Destroyer HMS Duncan and hundreds of Royal Marines Commandos are on standby for a maritime rescue bid if given the go-ahead.

But Israel has stepped up its bombardment of Lebanon with at least 12 major strikes on Beirut and even a bombing of a refugee camp in the northern town of Tripoli. The dawn bombing run on the Beddawi refugee camp killed Hamas military commander Saeed Atallah Ali and his family - plus a possible key Iranian commander.

It is also believed the commander of Iran’s shadowy Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Esmail Qaani was wounded in an Israeli bombing on Beirut. He oversees Iran’s terrorist proxies in the region and was likely hit in the attack on Friday which killed Hashem Safieddine, supposed successor to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Nasrallah died after a major bombing on his underground bunker in southern beirut last Friday. Beirut's southern suburbs were again hit overnight killing at least six people Tripoli is much farther north than the majority of Israel’s strikes, which have been concentrated in southern Lebanon and Beirut - signalling a broadening of Israel’s campaign.

Israel has killed several Hamas officials in Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas war began in October last year, in addition to most of the top leadership of Hezbollah. Just over a week ago Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a major bombing on his underground bunker after a major intelligence coup by Israel.

Staggeringly it has been confirmed by some sources in Israel that his supposed successor-to-be Hashem Safieddine also met the same fate in his hideout on Friday in an even bigger blast. The IDF on Saturday said that alongside fighting in Gaza and the West Bank, Israeli soldiers and forces are fighting forces in Lebanon, Iran, and against proxies in Yemen, Syria, and Iraq.

The IDF said it plans to respond “significantly.” Israeli special forces are launching ground raids against Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon, destroying missiles, launchpads, watchtowers and weapons storage facilities. In Lebanon, ferocious fighting has broken out as a hospital in the south claims it had been shelled by Israeli forces on Friday after being warned to evacuate.

A statement from Salah Ghandour Hospital in the town of Bint Jbeil said shelling "resulted in nine members of the medical and nursing staff being injured, most of them seriously," while most of the medical staff were evacuated.

A day earlier, the World Health Organization said 28 health workers in Lebanon had been killed in the past 24 hours. This morning Israeli troops said the air force struck a Hezbollah terror command centre inside a Mosque adjacent to the hospital.

Israel claims rescue vehicles were being used by Hezbollah to transport militants and weapons. Israel’s military said nine soldiers have died fighting in Lebanon. Israel and Hezbollah have traded cross-border fire almost daily since the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023 attack, which killed 1,200 in Israeli and took 250 others hostage.

Israel declared war on the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip in response and as the Israel-Hamas war reaches the one-year mark, more than 41,000 Palestinians have died. Just over half of those killed in Gaza were believed to be women and children, according to local health officials and almost 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since October.

At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, paramedics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million driven from homes in less than two weeks since Israel escalated its strikes in Lebanon.

Nearly 375,000 people have fled from Lebanon into Syria, fleeing Israeli bombardment, in less than two weeks, Lebanese officials said. Figures from Lebanese General Security, say 374,621 people - Lebanese citizens and Syrians living in Lebanon - have crossed into Syria since Sept. 23, marking the launch of Israel’s invasion.

Syrian President Bashar Assad praised Iran for firing nearly 200 missiles at Israel earlier this week saying it was a message to Israel that Tehran and its allies "can deter the enemy."

Despite growing fears of another humanitarian disaster in Gaza Israel has suggested army raids into Lebanon on the ground will expand in the coming days. And troops in Gaza will be reinforced whilst US sources suggest Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is still alive and controlling his network in the hope of a major war breaking out between Iran and Israel.