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.
Follow live Middle East updates
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
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.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
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.
Read more:
Attack on Hezbollah is warning to governments
Hezbollah chief’s message means devastation will continue
Middle East is ‘closest to regional war since 1970s’
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.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
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.
