Urgent warning for Brits NOT to travel to Lebanon as embassy staff evacuated over Hezbollah-Israel war threat
BRITS have been warned not to travel to Lebanon amid growing tensions in the region as the war escalates between Hamas and Israel.
The Foreign Office has also evacuated its staff from its embassy in Lebanon as the “risk of civil unrest” ramps up.
It comes as Israel and Lebanon‘s Hezbollah group continue to trade fire along the border.
Guidance on the Foreign Office’s website said: “FCDO advises against all travel to Lebanon due to risks associated with the conflict between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
“There are ongoing mortar and artillery exchanges and air strikes in South Lebanon, on the boundary with Israel.
“Tensions are high and events could escalate with little warning, which could affect or limit exit routes out of Lebanon.”
The authority also warned of the risk of “civil unrest” as protests erupt outside embassies – with more expected.
Staff and all their family members have also been “temporarily withdrawn” as the war rages on.
It comes as four civilians including three children were killed on Sunday evening by an Israel airstrike in south Lebanon, a local civil defence official said.
The Israeli military said it had attacked Hezbollah targets in response to anti-tank fire that killed an Israeli civilian.
Hezbollah said it fired Grad rockets from southern Lebanon into Israel in response.
The cross-border strikes come after Hezbollah’s terror chief issued a chilling warning in his first public address since the October 7 massacre.
The Iran-backed militia leader Hassan Nasrallah said “all options are open” amid the brutal ongoing conflict.
The Hezbollah chief, 63, praised the Hamas October 7 attack and branded it a “sacred operation” that was “100 per cent Palestinian.”
He warned that the battle has extended to “more than one front”.
Ever since Hamas unleashed hell on Israel on October 7, Hezbollah has been engaged in daily border clashes with Israel, with deaths reported on both sides.
It appears to be a calculated tactic to keep Israel’s military busy on its northern border – but so far the group has stopped short of attempting to ignite a full-blown war.
Hezbollah has a terrifyingly strong military and political grip on Lebanon – and has already fought a devastating war against Israel in 2006 that claimed 1,200 lives.
It is one of the most heavily-armed, non-state groups in the world and is the most formidable of Iran’s allies in their self-styled “Axis of Resistance”.
Jerusalem has long seen the Shi’ite Islamist group as a bigger threat than Hamas owing to their far more advanced weaponry, including precision and long-range missiles.