Foreign secretary chairs emergency meeting over fears Britons might need evacuation from Lebanon
The foreign secretary has chaired an emergency COBRA meeting to discuss the situation in Lebanon and ensure the UK is prepared for any escalation that might require the evacuation of British nationals, Sky News understands.
David Lammy and other ministers met on Friday morning in the wake of an unprecedented wave of attacks against Hezbollah communication devices.
The Lebanese militant group has blamed the explosion of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies this week on Israel.
A major round of Israeli air strikes have followed the attacks.
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The top diplomat wanted to make sure the UK is prepared for any eventualities, a Whitehall source said.
The military had been put on standby over the summer to launch an emergency evacuation of British nationals from Lebanon when tensions between Israel and Hezbollah previously escalated.
Two ships were already in the region and ready to be used. Additional troops were deployed to a Royal Air Force base in Cyprus to help with any evacuation.
This level of readiness was relaxed slightly in recent weeks as the threat of immediate escalation had been deemed to have passed but the warships remained in the region.
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The Whitehall source said that it was thought readiness would be ramped back up again following the latest flare up in tensions.
The source said this was just prudent planning to make sure the UK was as ready as possible to react.
It was not a sign that any evacuation operation was anticipated to be imminent, they said.
"We need to be on the best possible preparedness level," the source said.
A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed Mr Lammy chaired a COBRA meeting on Lebanon.
He told Sky News: "The foreign secretary has chaired a meeting of COBR this morning on the latest situation in Lebanon and to discuss ongoing preparedness work, with the risk of escalation remaining high.
"The safety of British nationals is our number one priority which is why we're continuing to advise people to leave Lebanon now while commercial routes remain available."
