War zone strands Brits as Israel deems flights impossible
Tens of thousands of British citizens were trapped in a war zone tonight as officials admitted an evacuation from Israel is currently impossible. The Foreign Office today issued an urgent warning against all travel to Israel following two nights of bombardment by deadly Iranian missiles and drones.
Officials have dusted off previous contingency plans for an airborne evacuation of British nationals from Israel. But insiders tonight admitted it was impossible to put in place while Israel's airspace remains closed to all civilian flights. The government does not hold up to date information on the number of Brits living in Israel, but reports suggest it could be as many as 60,000. Foreign Secretary David Lammy today said the safety of British nationals in the region 'remains our top priority'.
New Foreign Office guidance today advised against all travel to Israel and urged those stranded there to follow local advice and stay away from missile debris. 'We recognise this is a fast-moving situation that poses significant risks,' it said. 'The situation has the potential to deteriorate further, quickly and without warning.' The Foreign Office warned anyone looking to flee the country that Israeli airspace 'remains closed' and that the conflict with Iran 'may disrupt road links'.
A British grandfather stranded in Jerusalem today said he was weighing up a bus escape through the Negev desert to flee Iranian missile fire after the Foreign Office said there was little they could do for him. James Eden, 72, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, flew to Israel last Monday for a six-day Christian pilgrimage. But he now finds himself trapped in a city on a war footing, with missiles flying overhead and outbound flights suspended.
Mr Eden said: 'The Foreign Office rang me and said there wasn't a lot they could do. They can't put on any planes because the airspace is shut - all they can do is send out alerts and keep track of us.' When the grandfather-of-four asked about crossing the border, officials told him he could travel to Egypt at his own risk. The journey would mean a four-hour bus ride through the Negev desert to Eilat, before crossing into Egypt and trying to fly home from Sharm El Sheikh.
Mr Eden, who is travelling with a friend, said he had been forced to take shelter in a stairwell when air raid sirens warned of incoming missiles in the middle of the night. A Foreign Office spokesman said officials 'stand ready to support British nationals 24/7'. Whitehall officials drew up plans for an evacuation of British nationals last summer amid heightened regional tensions over the country's military operation in Gaza. But the plan focused on using chartered flights which cannot currently land in Israel.
Israel has been the subject of heightened travel advice since the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas. The Foreign Office has advised against non-essential travel to most parts of the country for much of the intervening period. This was upgraded to advise against all travel to parts of the country on Saturday, with the red alert extended to cover the whole country today. The Foreign Office is also advising against all travel to Iran.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Guardian
28 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
UK warns the situation in Middle East ‘has potential to deteriorate further'
The Foreign Office has advised against all travel to Israel, but Britons already in the country now face difficulties getting home – with the airspace closed due to the conflict with Iran. A No 10 spokesman said: 'We, of course, recognise this is a fast-moving situation that has the potential to deteriorate further, quickly and without warning.' The UK now advises against all travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. My message to British nationals there is clear – your safety remains our top priority. Follow our travel advice for the latest updates: — David Lammy (@DavidLammy) June 15, 2025 He added: 'We are keeping all our advice under constant review and we plan for a variety of developments, as you would expect.' Poland has announced an evacuation of around 200 of its citizens in a bus convoy to Jordan, while the Czech Republic and Slovakian governments have organised repatriation flights from the region. Iran fired further missiles at Israel overnight, while Israel's military claimed to have 'full air superiority' over Tehran as strikes continued. The escalating conflict will be high on the agenda as leaders from the G7 group of wealthy democracies meet in Canada. Sir Keir Starmer said that the G7 meeting in Alberta would provide an opportunity for allies to make the case for de-escalation in the 'fast-moving' situation in the Middle East, with US president Donald Trump among those set to attend. Sir Keir called for 'restraint and de-escalation' during a bilateral meeting with Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni in Kananaskis, Canada, on Sunday evening. Mr Trump is reported to have vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Downing Street would not be drawn on whether the UK was aware of the plan to assassinate the Iranian leader. A No 10 spokesman said: 'We wouldn't comment on private conversations or intelligence matters. 'We are concerned by further escalation, which is in no-one's interest, and we're working closely with our allies to press for a return to diplomacy.' The UK has been calling for de-escalation, and Sir Keir confirmed on Saturday that more RAF jets would be sent to the region for 'contingency support'.
Reuters
36 minutes ago
- Reuters
Iran says parliament is preparing bill to leave nuclear non-proliferation treaty
DUBAI, June 16 (Reuters) - Iranian parliamentarians are preparing a bill that could push Tehran toward exiting the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the foreign ministry said on Monday, while reiterating Tehran's official stance against developing nuclear weapons. "In light of recent developments, we will take an appropriate decision. Government has to enforce parliament bills but such a proposal is just being prepared and we will coordinate in the later stages with parliament," the ministry's spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said, when asked at a press conference about Tehran potentially leaving the NPT. The NPT, which Iran ratified in 1970, guarantees countries the right to pursue civilian nuclear power in return for requiring them to forego atomic weapons and cooperate with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the IAEA. Israel began bombing, opens new tab Iran last week, saying Tehran was on the verge of building a nuclear bomb. Iran has always said its nuclear programme is peaceful, although the IAEA declared last week that Tehran was in violation of its NPT obligations. President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated on Monday that nuclear weapons were against a religious edict by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran's state media said that no decision on quitting the NPT had yet been made by parliament, while a parliamentarian said that the proposal was at the initial stages of the legal process. Baghaei said that developments such as Israel's attack "naturally affect the strategic decisions of the state," noting that Israel's attack had followed the IAEA resolution, which he suggested was to blame. "Those voting for the resolution prepared the ground for the attack," Baghaei said. Israel, which never joined the NPT, is widely assumed by regional governments to possess nuclear weapons, although it does not confirm or deny this. "The Zionist regime is the only possessor of weapons of mass destruction in the region," Baghaei said.
The Guardian
40 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Iran's nuclear sites have not suffered further damage, says energy chief
Iran's key nuclear sites have not suffered any further damage since Friday, the first day of Israel's attack on the country, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced at a governors meeting on Monday. Rafael Grossi, the director general of the nuclear watchdog, said while buildings above ground at Iran's principal uranium enrichment site at Natanz had been destroyed, strategic locations underground had not been struck. 'There has been no additional damage at the Natanz fuel enrichment plant site since the Friday attack,' Grossi said. 'There has been no indication of a physical attack on the underground cascade hall containing part of the pilot fuel enrichment plant and the main fuel enrichment plant.' That contrasts with claims made by Israel's military on Friday after its air force bombed the Nantaz site which said, 'the underground area of the site was damaged'. A second Iranian enrichment site, at Fordow, which is hidden 80 to 90 metres below a mountain, is not thought to have been impacted, Grossi said in the update, though it had been attacked by Israel on Friday evening. 'No damage has been seen,' the director general said. Israel launched its attack on Iran on Friday to pre-empt a secret Iranian programme to build a nuclear bomb, Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, which would require uranium to be enriched to 90% to produce a warhead. The country runs two principal enrichment sites, at Natanz and Fordow, and has already accumulated 408.6kg of 60%-enriched uranium – enough, the regulator said last week, to make nine nuclear bombs if the enrichment continued. There are two facilities at Natanz. The main site, the fuel enrichment plant, is estimated to be between 8 and 12 metres below ground. Military analysts believe it can withstand bombing with all but the heaviest weapons available to Israel, and to destroy it would likely require multiple strikes with the 1.8-tonne Rocks missile or 1.6-tonne Air Lora missiles. A lesser site, the pilot fuel enrichment plant, was based partly overground and vulnerable to attack. Satellite imagery confirms there is serious damage to buildings overground, including the pilot fuel enrichment plant – but it is not possible to assess the impact to the underground hall from the imagery above. Electricity infrastructure – a sub-station and power supplies had also been destroyed at the Natanz site, Grossi said, which is also confirmed by satellite imagery – and the resulting 'loss of power to the cascade hall may have damaged the centrifuges there'. Naturally occurring uranium contains only 0.7% of the fissile isotope, uranium 235. It has to be enriched to 90% uranium 235 before it can be used in a warhead. Uranium is converted into a gas, uranium hexaflouride, and spun in centrifuges to separate the uranium-235 from the heavier, stable uranium-238. There was also 'both radiological and chemical contamination,' at the Natanz site which could potentially include a dangerous uranium leak. Speculating, Grossi said, 'it is possible that uranium isotopes' are 'dispersed inside the facility'. If so, the radiation would primarily consist of alpha particles that would pose 'a significant danger if uranium is inhaled or ingested' – but the the IAEA chief said this risk could be effectively managed with respiratory devices or other protective measures. Iran's second enrichment site Fordow is generally considered to have been built so deep below ground that it could only be destroyed by US GBU 57/B bunker buster bombs, which are so heavy they can only be launched from B-2 bombers. Some other Iranian nuclear sites, such as the Bushehr civil nuclear reactor, had not been attacked, the IAEA said. Four buildings were damaged at a research site at Isfahan, including a central chemical laboratory and a uranium conversion plant, it added.
