David Lammy chairs Cobra meeting over Lebanon tensions

David Lammy has chaired an emergency meeting amid fears over escalating tensions in Lebanon.

The Foreign Secretary gathered ministers and officials this morning to discuss contingency plans for evacuating Brits.

The talks come as the fallout continues from extraordinary attacks that blew up Hezbollah radios and pagers - assumed to have been carried out by Israel. 

The Iran-backed group has vowed retribution with alarm that the Middle East is closer to a regional war that at any point in a generation.

Mr Lammy revealed yesterday he had spoken to Lebanon's PM Najib Mikati and 'expressed my deep concern over rising tensions and civilian casualties'.

Israeli warplanes have been striking southern Lebanon, while the leader of

In a social media post, Mr Lammy wrote: 'My message to British nationals in Lebanon is leave while commercial options remain.

'Tensions are high and the situation could deteriorate rapidly.'

The Foreign Office continues to advise against all travel to Lebanon. 

Referring to his call with Mr Mikati, he added: 'We discussed the need for a negotiated solution to restore stability and security across the Blue Line.'

The 'Blue Line', drawn by the United Nations in 2000, separates Israel from southern Lebanon.

Lebanon and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for the attacks on communications equipment that killed 37 people and wounded around 3,000.

The attacks overwhelmed Lebanese hospitals and wreaked bloody havoc on the militant group.

'There is no doubt that we have been subjected to a major security and military blow that is unprecedented in the history of the resistance and unprecedented in the history of Lebanon,' Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a TV address.

'This type of killing, targeting and crime may be unprecedented in the world... The enemy went beyond all controls, laws and morals.'

He added the attacks 'could be considered war crimes or a declaration of war.'

Israel has not directly commented on the attacks, which are said to have probably been carried out by its Mossad spy agency, which has a long history of carrying out sophisticated attacks on foreign soil. 

Tensions have been high in the region ever since the October 7 terror attacks on Israel by Hamas, which has seen Israel wage war against the militants in Gaza.