Britons ‘stuck’ in Lebanon as Sir Keir Starmer says ‘stay put’

Britons have told the BBC they are struggling to get out of Lebanon, as Sir Keir Starmer repeats calls for Britons to leave.

Britain has urged British citizens to leave immediately, because of the continued escalation of the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Speaking to BBC News, the prime minister said Britons still in the country should: “Leave now. It’s very important.”

But someone told the BBC they were having trouble getting flights out of the country.

Speaking to the BBC’s political editor Chris Mason at the UN in New York, Sir Keir said that the situation in Lebanon was escalating and asked the British to leave the country now and not wait for evacuation.

“I say to the British people, don’t wait. Leave now,” he said.

“We are ramping up the contingency plan for evacuation, as expected. But my message is, don’t wait. There are still commercial flights going out.”

The prime minister said he would not go into detail about evacuation plans, but that contingency measures had been taken.

The British government has sent around 700 additional military personnel to Cyprus in case an emergency evacuation is required.

He added that “all parties must step back from the brink to de-escalate” and called for a ceasefire.

But Britons in Lebanon have spoken of the difficulty of leaving the country.

BBC News understands there are between 4,000 and 6,000 British nationals including dependents in the country.

When the BBC visited Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport, the country’s only civilian airport, most flights were canceled after international airlines suspended flights to and from the city.

Middle East Airlines, as well as Iraqi Airways and Iran Air, are the only companies still operating today.

Chloe Lewin, 24, from London, told BBC News that she would fly out of Lebanon on Friday.

“Keir Starmer told everyone to get out, but they couldn’t,” he said.

“You can’t go out this week because they (flights) are full and every time you get to the last page of the booking, it just crashes and says you can’t book a flight.

“And people I know who have had flights, they’ve all been cancelled.

“My friends were supposed to leave this morning on Egyptair – which got cancelled, so they couldn’t go out.”

Speaking about other British friends in Lebanon, they said they felt helpless and were waiting to be evacuated.

The British Embassy told Britons to “get out”, he said, adding: “They are not helping us to not work. There is nothing we can do.”

The freelance journalist, who has been living in Beirut since January 2023, describes the atmosphere in the part of the city where he lives as calm but also “scary because you don’t know what will happen next”.

Speaking about how difficult it is for people to leave Lebanon, he said: “I wanted to stay but I left…

“Even though we’re technically expats and we’re not from here, people live here too. People have jobs here. People have been here for seven years, two years here.

“It’s not as easy as just leaving.”

Isabella Eda Baker said she was too scared to go to the airport in Beirut and decided to go to Tripoli in the north of the country and then continue the ship to Turkey.

“Now I am in Tripoli at a friend’s house. We expect the boat to leave at 6 or 7 in the evening,” said the student, who has studied for a master’s degree in human rights at the French university in Beirut.

“I was with my Spanish and Swiss friends.

“I will stay with my family in Turkey until we know what to do.”

Describing life in Lebanon since the fence attack, he said he had heard drones and sonic booms in the city.

He said he empathized with the Lebanese people and the migrants in the country who did not have the privilege to leave.

Emma Bartholomew, who splits her time between London and Beirut, has already booked a flight to London next week.

He described the traffic jam from the ambulance as fences exploded and Israeli jets descended on his hotel, where hundreds of displaced people had arrived from the city’s southern suburbs.

“There is a sense of anticipation and anxiety among the Lebanese people,” he said.

“I still feel privileged to have the freedom to leave.”

The rest of the British have decided to stay in Lebanon for the time being.

Anne Bouji, who has lived in the country for the past seven years, said she would stay with her paralyzed Lebanese husband who does not have a British passport or visa.

“She really has no desire to leave, she has her brother and sister and her children, so I think it’s stuck,” she said. BBC Radio 4’s World at One program.

He said that when he left Lebanon on a British evacuation flight, he did not know if his wife was eligible to accompany him.

He added “it’s relatively safe” in the east of Beirut where he lives, but in other parts of the city “it’s very scary and you can feel the fear in the air”.

Clementine Brown, a British expat in Beirut and co-director of an organization helping young people with technology skills, told BBC News that although he was in an area of ​​the city considered safe, he did not feel out of harm’s way.

When asked if he would consider leaving, he said: “If there is an evacuation operation and embassy staff are asked to leave, then that is a good gesture to leave. But we do it every day.”

Alistair, a Briton who has lived in Lebanon for 10 years, said: “I hope sanity will prevail and peace will prevail at some point.”

Sir Keir, addressing the UN Security Council, called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

“The area is on edge,” he said, adding that a political plan was needed to allow Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return to their homes.

The Foreign Office said the situation in Lebanon was deeply concerning and the risk of escalation remained high.

“We therefore continue to advise people to leave now while commercial routes remain available,” it said in a statement.

“The government is planning for a number of scenarios and is ready to provide additional support to British citizens if needed.”

Officials say Britain already has a diplomatic and military presence close to Lebanon, including RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and two Royal Navy ships – RFA Mounts Bay and HMS Duncan – which have been in the eastern Mediterranean over the summer.

The Royal Air Force also has aircraft and helicopters on standby.

Tensions have been rising in the Middle East since Hamas gunmen attacked Israel on October 7 last year, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage.

The previously sporadic war between Israel and the armed group Hezbollah escalated on October 8 – the day after an unprecedented attack by Hamas. Hezbollah fires at Israeli positions, in solidarity with Hamas.

Hezbollah, which is banned as a terrorist organization in Britain and other countries, has launched more than 8,000 rockets at northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It also fires anti-tank missiles at armored vehicles and strikes military targets with explosive drones.

Last week Hizbollah’s communication devices began to explode in Lebanon.

Israel then launched a series of airstrikes on Monday that have so far killed 569 people according to the Lebanese government.

Additional reporting by Rozina Sini, UGC Hub