Israel-Lebanon latest: Hezbollah rocket targets Tel Aviv for the first time

The UK already has a significant diplomatic and military presence in the region, including RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and British ships RFA Mounts Bay and HMS Duncan, which have remained in the eastern Mediterranean over the summer.

The Royal Air Force has planes and transport helicopters on standby to provide support if necessary.

The deployment to Cyprus comes as the government begins the first stage of its contingency plan, with the military team supported by Border Force and Foreign Office officials.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire of thousands of rockets, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes, with the Israeli strikes on Lebanon being particularly intense, leaving more than 550 people dead and 1,800 injured in less than two days.

The Israeli military said warplanes struck 1,600 targets on Monday, claiming that they were being used by the Iran-backed Hezbollah Many, the military said, were hidden in residential areas and they called on resiudents to evacuate. Israeli warplanes resumed aerial attacks in the early hours of Tuesday.

Rocket sirens were sounded across Tel Aviv this morning as the Israeli military said it intercepted a surface-to-surface missile fired from Lebanon.

This is the first time Hezbollah has targeted Tel Aviv in central Israel since it began launching attacks on the north of Israel this year following Benjamin Netanyahu’s war on Gaza.

Israel’s two-day-long bombing of Lebanon has killed more than 560 people, including 50 children, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Israel claims it was targeting Hezbollah hideouts.

Lebanon’s health minister has described the incessant Israeli airstrikes as “carnage”, which killed more than 560 people, including 50 children in just two days.

Firass Abiad said it was “clear” that about 550 people killed on Monday were civilians and not Hezbollah militants.

“If you look at the people who were brought to the emergency rooms it’s clear that they’re civilians. They are not the combatants that the Israelis claim they are,” he told BBC.

“We know about the victims of the attacks because our ambulances are the ones that transferred them to hospitals,” he added.

“[They were] civilians who were doing their normal things.”

Israel says it is acting in self defence against Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets into northern Israel for almost a year now since the start of the Gaza war.

Tens of thousands of people have fled southern Lebanon after Israel’s two-day-long incessant bombing killed more than 560 people, including 50 children, according to the health minister.

Families that fled southern Lebanon flocked to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, sleeping in schools turned into shelters, as well as in cars, parks and along the beach.

Some sought to leave the country, causing a traffic jam at the border with Syria, Associated Press reported.

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that attacks will continue on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. But a military spokesperson said Israel aims to keep them “as short as possible, that’s why we’re attacking with great force”.

“At the same time, we must be prepared for it to take longer,” he said.

The UN’s high commissioner for refugees in Lebanon said one of its staffers and her young son were among those killed on Monday in the Bekaa region, while a cleaner under contract was killed in a strike in the south.

Israel says it has killed a top Hezbollah commander during its two-day bombing campaign in Lebanon that has left more than 560 people, including 50 children, dead.

Israel late on Tuesday said it carried out “extensive strikes” targeting Hezbollah weapons and rocket launchers across southern Lebanon.

It said the strikes in Beirut killed Ibrahim Kobeisi – a top commander with the militant group’s rocket and missile unit who allegedly planned a 2000 attack when three Israeli soldiers were abducted and killed.

Lebanon’s health ministry said six people were killed and 15 were wounded in the strike in a southern Beirut suburb, an area where Hezbollah has a strong presence.

Ministers say more than 500 people have been killed in the past 24 hours as they echoed calls for ceasefire in Lebanon.

The Defence Secretary John Healey said: “We continue to urge all sides to step back from conflict to prevent further tragic loss of life.

“Our government is ensuring all preparations are in place to support British nationals should the situation deteriorate.

“I want to thank the British personnel who are deploying in the region for their commitment and professionalism.”

A government source told The BBC that the difference between the chaotic 2021 Afghanistan evacuation is there are still commercial flights leaving Lebanon – for now.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is sending 700 troops to nearby Cyprus and the government “continues to advise against all travel to Lebanon”.

The situation in the country is described as deteriorating “rapidly, with devastating consequences”.

Sir Keir said: “The most important message from me to British nationals in Lebanon is to leave immediately.

“It is important that we’ve been really, really clear: now is the time to leave.”

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib expressed disappointment on Tuesday with President Joe Biden’s remarks about the escalating crisis between Lebanon and Israel, but said he held out hope that Washington could still intervene to help.

“It was not strong. It is not promising and it would not solve this problem,” Habib said of Biden’s speech at the United Nations earlier in the day. “I (am) still hoping. The United States is the only country that can really make a difference in the Middle East and with regard to Lebanon.”

Habib spoke during an event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.