BRITISH commandos are on standby ready to airlift civilians from Lebanon if ratcheting tensions between Israel and Hezbollah escalate to full-blown war.
The military has been placed on high alert to launch an emergency evacuation with two ships also on standby in the region.
AFPBritish Royal Navy helicopters evacuate Brits from Beirut in July 2006 during an Israeli military offensive[/caption]
The site of an Israeli strike in southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on Friday
People stand on wrecked cars in Beirut, Lebanon, after an Israeli airstrike
Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged Brits to leave Lebanon immediately this week
A defence source told The Telegraph the British government “stands prepared” to pull Brits to safety if the situation explodes.
Foreign secretary David Lammy outlined the preparations in an emergency Cobra meeting.
He yesterday warned Brits living in Lebanon to leave immediately while “commercial options remain”.
Officials are also planning to rent aircraft which could be used to carry out the emergency plans.
The Foreign Office has advised against all travel to the country since October last year – when war between Hamas and Israel exploded in Gaza.
In the year since, conflict between Israel and Hezbollah – Hamas’ Iran-backed ally in Lebanon – has spiralled, culminating in massive airstrikes and unprecedented deadly cyber attacks this week.
Now the Israeli military is poised to invade Lebanon after striking capital Beirut with airstrikes on Friday and massing troops in the north.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told senior Pentagon officials he fears Israel could move over the border, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Some British nationals in Lebanon have decided to remain there – including an unnamed charity worker who said he felt he could not abandon his colleagues.
He said: “I felt it would somehow be wrong to cut and run at the first moment when things go wrong.”
Several international airlines including Delta, AirFrance and Lufthansa have axed flights to Beirut amid the chaos.
Israel launched a double-tap hack in Lebanon, detonating Hezbollah pagers, walkie-talkies and other electronic devices earlier this week.
Some 37 people were killed and 3,600 injured in the fatal explosions, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
On Thursday the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) unleashed airstrikes over Lebanon itself, before Hezbollah launched at least 140 rockets back in a revenge strike on Friday.
The IDF responded with more strikes on Beirut, killing at least nine and wounding 60 more – and taking out Hezbollah second-in-command Ibrahim Aqil in the process.
Some 10 other senior chiefs from the terror group were killed alongside Aqil, Israel said.
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire across the border almost daily in parallel with the war in Gaza.
Hezbollah has reportedly killed 26 civilians and 20 soldiers and forced another 80,000 Israelis to head south to escape the blitz.
Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday to return the evacuated Israelis “securely to their homes”.
The UN has previously said over 90,000 people in Lebanon have been forced from their homes, with some 100 civilians killed by Israeli strikes.
The US, UK, UN and other Western country have urged calm and restraint from all parties amid fears of an all-out war.
Hezbollah, an ally of terror group Hamas, has said it is attacking Israel in support of them and won’t stop until the war in Gaza ends.
Israel has vowed to continue fighting in the Strip until Hamas is destroyed and its hostages are returned home.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “The Foreign Secretary has chaired a meeting of Cobra 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.”
The US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Jordan, and Turkey have also warned their citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible.
Hezbollah official Ibrahim Aqil was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Friday
A playground in northern Israel was reportedly hit in the rocket blitz by Hezbollah on Friday
A man whose eyes were injured in one of the pager strikes this week
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