David Lammy urges ‘restraint’ after strikes between Israel and Lebanon

Britain has called for ‘restraint’ in the Middle East after Israel launched a fresh wave of air strikes across southern Lebanon early on Sunday in what it called a pre-emptive strike to avert a large Hezbollah rocket and missile attack.

The Israeli military carried out a series of air strikes in southern Lebanon early on Sunday, saying it had intelligence Hezbollah was planning to carry out an attack of its own.

The Iran-backed militants subsequently launched drones at Israel, saying it was acting in response to the killing of one of its top commanders in an airstrike on Beirut last month.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he has spoken to Israeli minister for strategic affairs Ron Dermer and warned that ‘further escalation in the Middle East must be avoided at all costs’.

Cabinet minister Pat McFadden earlier Sunday said the UK is ‘very concerned’ by the escalation and had warned a regional war was ‘a real danger’ if the situation continued to heighten.

It comes as at least three UK air carriers have axed flights to the Middle East in response to the strikes.

Mr Lammy, in a post on X, said he had spoken to Israeli minister for strategic affairs Ron Dermer and ‘reiterated the UK’s support for Israel’s security, the importance of restraint, the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages’.

He added: ‘Further escalation in the Middle East must be avoided at all costs.’

Since becoming Foreign Secretary in July, Mr Lammy has been heavily involved in Western diplomatic efforts to secure an end to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, paying a number of visits to the region.

Last week, he visited Israel alongside his French counterpart Stephane Sejourne, with the pair saying the ‘spiral of escalating reprisals must end’.

Defence Secretary John Healey said he had also spoken to his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, and ‘underlined UK support for Israel’s security and the importance of agreeing a ceasefire in Gaza’.

He added: ‘We discussed our shared concern to avoid escalation and wider regional conflict.’

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden, speaking to Sky News on Sunday, warned: ‘Even as this unfolds, the UK Government and the international community would urge all parties not to escalate further and to avoid a major regional war. That is the real danger facing the area,’ he said.

‘We hope this doesn’t turn out to be that and we hope that afterwards we can de-escalate the situation.’

Reports from the region suggest there have been no further strikes following the initial exchange of fire early on Sunday, but the situation remains tense.

British Airways and Wizz Air have cancelled flights to Tel Aviv in response to the strikes and Virgin Atlantic has delayed the resumption of flights to Israel following a ‘security and safety’ assessment.

British Airways flights are not set to resume until Thursday at the earliest while a Virgin Atlantic spokesman said the airline will not resume daily flights until at least September 25.

Several nations and international bodies have warned Hezbollah and Israel not to escalate tensions in the already precarious Middle East. 

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that Israel will ‘harm whoever harms us’ as the Middle East teeters on the brink of all-out war.

The IDF on Sunday launched two rounds of missiles at southern Lebanon, with the second coming hours after about 100 fighter jets ‘struck and destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels’ aimed at northern Israel. 

The military also released black-and-white images showing smoke rising from what it said was a strike on southern Lebanon. 

The second set of strikes hit ‘Hezbollah launchers in several areas in southern Lebanon to remove threats.’ At least three people were killed in the strikes on Lebanon. 

The Lebanese health ministry added that two people – a Lebanese man and a Syrian man – were also being treated for injuries.

The Israeli military said a navy soldier was killed and two others wounded in combat in northern Israel on Sunday, after the Hezbollah attack.

‘Petty Officer First Class, David Moshe Ben Shitrit, aged 21… fell during combat in northern Israel,’ the military said in a statement, adding that he was in the navy and that two others were also wounded. It did not give further details.

A military official told AFP that an initial investigation indicated the soldier was killed ‘either directly from an Iron Dome interceptor or from falling shrapnel from the interceptor, which accidentally hit a Dvora-class fast patrol boat after intercepting a UAV’ fired by Hezbollah.

‘The details of the incident are under review,’ the official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the issue.

Despite the major escalation, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has said the country ‘does not seek an all-out war’ in the region and that it is ‘acting to protect its citizens and territory’ against an ‘axis of evil’ led by Iran. 

Sunday’s outbreak of hostilities came as Egypt is hosting another round of talks aimed at securing an end to the conflict in Gaza, where Israel has been fighting militants Hamas since the latter’s attack on October 7.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Iran, with the Lebanese group also carrying out regular attacks on Israel since October.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Sunday that his group would assess the impact of its rocket and drone attack on Israeli military targets earlier in the day before determining whether it would carry out further attacks to avenge a slain commander.

The leader of the Lebanese armed group said in a televised address that it had been able to carry out its attack ‘as planned,’ denying statements by the Israeli military that its pre-emptive strikes had stopped a wider attack by the group.

Nasrallah, speaking about 12 hours after the most intense exchange of fire between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel since hostilities broke out in parallel with the war in Gaza, said the group had intentionally refrained from targeting civilians or public infrastructure, including Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.

He said the group’s main target was a military intelligence base about 110 km (70 miles) inside Israeli territory – the deepest attack yet and just 1.5 km (1 mile) north of Tel Aviv.

Nasrallah said the group would assess the results of the operation, a retaliation for Israel’s killing of top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukron the edges of Beirut last month.

‘If the result is not enough, then we retain the right to respond another time,’ Nasrallah said.

Hezbollah fighters had successfully launched a volley of more than 300 Katyusha rockets to distract Israel’s Iron Dome defences before sending attack drones, he said.

They included drones fired from the eastern Bekaa Valley, a first for the group, he said. None of the drone or rocket launchers were damaged in Israel’s pre-emptive strikes, he said.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah had not planned a larger attack, specifically denying Israeli military statements that the group had intended to fire thousands of projectiles.

But he acknowledged that the operation had been delayed for several reasons, including what he called a ‘mobilization’ of Israeli and American military assets in the region.

Global leaders are already raising concerns over the escalating tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. 

Egypt’s foreign ministry warned of the dangers of opening up a new front in the Middle East, and called for stability, as it hosts diplomats from Israel and Hamas to try and further ceasefire talks. 

The UN has described the latest developments as ‘worrying’, and has called all sides to agree to a ceasefire.  

The UK’s Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, told Sky News he was ‘very concerned’ with the developments in the Middle East. 

‘This is a major escalation. Even as this unfolds, the UK government and the international community would urge all parties not to escalate further and to avoid a major regional war.

‘That is the real danger facing the area. We hope this doesn’t turn out to be that.

‘We hope that afterwards we can de-escalate the situation but we’re very concerned about what’s happening there, very concerned for the people there,’ he added.

‘We hope that this is not a long-term outbreak of major hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.’

President Joe Biden was said to be ‘closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon,’ according to Sean Savett, a spokesman for the National Security Council.

The Pentagon said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, about Israel’s defenses. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown, is on a visit to the region that is expected to take him to Israel, Egypt and Jordan.

The Houthis  in Yemen, meanwhile, hailed the Hezbollah attack and declared that their own response for an Israeli strike on a key Yemeni port on July 20 was ‘definitely coming’. 

But it appears Lebanon’s official government is looking to de-escalate, with the country’s caretaker Economy Minister Amin Salam revealing that officials were ‘feeling a bit more optimistic’ about a de-escalation.

‘We feel more reassured since both sides confirmed that the expected operations ended, and we know that the negotiations in Cairo are very serious,’ he said.

Health minister Firass Abiad said it was ‘too early to tell’ if the death and injury toll would rise but said that Israel’s attack had mostly hit ‘forested and open areas.’

Separately, Hezbollah confirmed that one of its fighters, Ayman Kamel Idriss, was killed in the southern Lebanese town of Khiam during a car strike. 

Air raid sirens were reported throughout northern Israel, and Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport began diverting incoming flights and delaying takeoffs.

Though many flights departing Ben-Gurion have been cancelled, many are still scheduled to leave on time, according to the airport’s flight board. 

Flights to and from Beirut Rafic Hariri international airport remain suspended, however, amid Israeli strikes. 

IDF Colonel Nadav Shoshani said Hezbollah had intended to hit targets in northern and central Israel.

He said initial assessments found ‘very little damage’ in Israel, but that the military remained on high alert. 

One video, reportedly taken in the city of Acre, around 11 miles from the border with Lebanon, showed what appeared to be a family’s home partially destroyed by a Hezbollah missile.  

Hezbollah announced it had launched an attack on Israel with a ‘large number of drones’ as an initial response to the killing of Fouad Shukur, a top commander with the group, in a strike in Beirut‘s southern suburbs last month.

It said the attack was targeting ‘a qualitative Israeli military target that will be announced later’ as well as ‘targeting a number of enemy sites and barracks and Iron Dome platforms’. 

But just before 8am, the proscribed terror group said that its planned attack on Israel ‘has been completed and accomplished.’

Hezbollah Israel’s comments that its strikes were pre-emptive were ’empty’, claiming that they ‘contradict the facts on the ground and will be refuted’ later.

Hezbollah added, referring to Israel: ‘We will take revenge on the criminals. 

‘These military operations will take some time to complete, after which a detailed statement will be issued about their course and objectives.

‘The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon is now and at this moment at the highest level of readiness, and will stand strong and watchful against any Zionist transgression or aggression, especially if civilians are harmed, the punishment will be severe and very harsh.’

The attack came as Egypt hosts a new round of talks aimed at ending Israel’s war against Hamas, now in its 11th month. Hezbollah has said it will halt the fighting if there is a ceasefire.

Israeli said on Sunday it still plans to send a delegation to Cairo for ceasefire talks with Hamas. Hamas leaders are also in the Egyptian capital, but it is not currently known whether they will take part in talks, following the attacks. 

In a message to his country, Netanyahu said: ‘Early in the morning we identified Hezbollah’s preparations to attack Israel. In consultation with the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff, we instructed the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) to act proactively to remove the threat. 

‘The IDF has since been working vigorously to thwart the threats. It destroyed thousands of rockets aimed at the north of the country. It also thwarts many other threats and operates with great power, both in defence and attack. 

‘I ask you, citizens of Israel, to follow the directives of the Home Front Command. We are determined to do everything possible to protect our country, to return the residents of the north safely to their homes and to continue to uphold a simple rule:

‘Whoever harms us – we harm him.’

He added: ‘Most of our activity at the moment is in southern Lebanon, but we will attack anywhere, anywhere in Lebanon where there is a threat to the State of Israel.’ 

Last week, Israel’s defence minister said he was moving more troops towards the Lebanese border in anticipation of possible fighting with the Iranian-backed group.

Israel’s military spokesman, rear admiral Daniel Hagari, said: ‘In a self-defence act to remove these threats, the (Israeli military) is striking terror targets in Lebanon, from which Hezbollah was planning to launch their attacks on Israeli civilians.’

‘We can see that Hezbollah is preparing to launch an extensive attack on Israel while endangering the Lebanese civilians,’ he added, without providing details.

‘We warn the civilians located in the areas where Hezbollah is operating to move out of harm’s way immediately for their own safety.’

His foreign minister, Israel Katz, later added that the nation ‘will do whatever it takes to protect citizens.’

He also called for its allies to ‘support Israel against the Iranian axis of evil and its proxies, led by Hezbollah.

‘I informed [other foreign ministers] that Israel acted after definitively identifying a large-scale planned attack of missiles and drones by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation against targets in Israel, and we delivered a preemptive strike to prevent the assault and protect Israeli citizens and territory.

‘Israel is confronting the axis of evil led by Iran, which has the explicit aim of destroying Israel.

‘We do not seek a full-scale war—but we will do whatever it takes to protect our citizens.’

Lebanese media reported strikes in the country’s south without immediately providing more details. Social media footage showed what appeared to be strikes in southern Lebanon.

Israeli media cited the Israel Airports Authority for news of the flight cancellations. Flight-tracking data showed at least two El Al flights swinging far south and diverting after the announcement.

Hezbollah is considered much more powerful than its ally, Hamas, with an estimated arsenal of arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles.

Hezbollah began attacking Israel almost immediately after the war with Hamas erupted on October 7 with a Hamas cross-border attack.

Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire nearly daily, displacing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border and raising fears that the fighting could escalate into all-out war.

But until Sunday, both sides have been careful to avoid a broader conflagration.

In recent months the group has also stepped up its use of drones, against which Israel is less well-equipped to defend.

Netanyahu’s office said he and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, were managing the latest operation from military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Mr Gallant declared a ‘special situation on the home front’ and Mr Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet was set to meet later Sunday.