British nationals in Lebanon have been warned to leave the country as the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel continue fighting.
The Foreign Office is strongly urging citizens to “leave now” as growing escalation has reached a fever pitch after the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed.
As such, the British government has secured extra flights for these nationals urging them to leave Lebanon and to register their presence immediately.
Brits in the country have been told to urgently secure a place on this flight.
Currently, commercial flights are still operating with Foreign Office officials working to increase these flights for British nationals.
Many Brits are stranded in Lebanon and are facing heavy Israeli bombardments.
Brits in Lebanon are calling for evacuation planes as the number of commercial flights leaving the country is becoming difficult to secure.
One Brit, Dan Harper, who is in Lebanon with his wife and two children spoke to the BBC and said: “The government are saying very strongly now, ‘British should leave, British must leave now’. But the messaging is very strange because there are no flights – there are no seats on any flights out of Beirut.”
The British Embassy has said it is doing all it can to make contact with Brits stranded in the country and is working with an emergency team to reach out to all.
Airstrikes continue to be launched in Lebanon by Israel as the latest government assessment warns that “tensions are high and events could escalate with little warning, which could affect or limit exit routes out of Lebanon”.
A large number of senior Hezbollah militants have been killed in the capital of Beirut including other southern areas of Lebanon.
This has meant that many airlines have stopped flying into the region with the few flights leaving, being sold out.
“When the message comes from Keir Starmer: ‘Brits leave now’, well, our reply is send us a plane then,” added Harper.
Since the attacks escalated last week, over 1,000 people have been killed, according to the Lebanese government.
As for the number of Brits currently in Lebanon, the Foreign Office has not provided estimates.
One spokesperson said: “Our advice is clear, British nationals should register their presence, book the first available flight and leave now.
“We have worked with partners to increase flights and secure seats for British nationals to leave and have also sent a rapid deployment team to bolster the efforts of our embassy in supporting British nationals.”
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