Government Prepares To Evacuate Britons From Israel

Fears of all-out war as Iran promises major attack on Tel Aviv

- WILL DURRANT

Officials in Whitehall are working “around the clock” to keep Britons in the Middle East safe amid heightened tensions in the region, as ceasefire talks due tomorrow look set to fall through.

After pleas from London, Paris and Berlin for de-escalation to conflict in the Middle East, made on Monday, Iran’s president is thought to have told Sir Keir Starmer he considered retaliation against Israel a right, after the assassination of Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Leaders in the US, Egypt and Qatar had hoped ceasefire talks, to reach a deal between Israel and Hamas to pause the conflict in Gaza and see Israeli hostages returned to their families and Palestinian civilians returned to their homes, would begin in Doha or Cairo tomorrow.

But Hamas official Ahmad Abdul Hadi has said the group will not participate in the talks, according to reports by Sky News and The New York Times.

Mr Abdul Hadi claimed Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “deceiving and evading and wants to prolong the war”.