Israel-Iran latest: Nine killed in Beirut strike as Israel vows air assault against Hezbollah will continue

Flight DN9999 from Beirut to Birmingham was the first rescue flight organised by the UK government since the Covid pandemic, writes Travel Correspondent Simon Calder.

The plane was a 15-year-old Airbus A320, a standard low-cost jet equipped with 180 seats, belonging to the Romanian airline, Dan Air.

The aircraft began the rescue mission in Bucharest, the airline’s base, with a two-hour flight carrying no passengers to Beirut.

The plane was on the ground in the Lebanese capital for three-and-a-half hours, missing its intended departure time by 90 minutes.

On the 2,400-mile flight from Beirut to Birmingham, it stopped at Bucharest along the way, about one-third of the way into the journey, to refuel and change crew. This was a much shorter stop, just 40 minutes. The plane eventually touched down at Birmingham at 8.39pm,

Ahead of the flight, the UK government said: “Vulnerable British nationals and their spouse or partner, and children under the age of 18, will be prioritised for this flight.

“This includes those with greatest need, including those with medical conditions, over-65s and children. British nationals should not make their way to the airport unless they have a confirmed seat on the plane.”

Passengers paid £350 for the one-way journey – well above the average commercial fare. But seats on scheduled flights are extremely scarce, and some private jet operators have been asking tens of thousands of pounds to fly people out from Beirut to Turkey.

The Gulf Cooperation Council affirmed its support for Lebanon during such a "critical stage" and called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the council said late on Wednesday after holding an extraordinary ministerial meeting in Doha.

The meeting was held to discuss the latest regional developments.

The council also condemned the escalation of conflict in Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories, calling on all involved parties to exercise self-restraint and refrain from violence, it added in a statement.

More than 1,900 people have been killed and over 9,000 wounded in Lebanon in almost a year of cross-border fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah, with most of the deaths occurring in the past two weeks, according to Lebanese government statistics.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians since 7 October, when Hamas gunmen led an incursion into Israel, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israel and Gaza health authorities.

The first charter flight carrying British citizens out of Lebanon has landed in Birmingham amid escalating conflict in the Middle East.

The Dan Air plane touched down at Birmingham International Airport shortly before 8.40pm, having departed from Beirut and stopped off in Bucharest, Romania, on its journey.

Foreign secretary David Lammy said earlier on Wednesday that more charter flights have been arranged for this week following Israel’s ground offensive into southern Lebanon against the Iran-backed Hezbollah – which has followed more than a week of heavy bombardment.

My colleague Alex Croft reports:

President Joe Biden said he would not support strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities by Israel even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to retaliate against Tehran for the ballistic attacks that were largely repelled on Tuesday.

Asked on Wednesday whether he would endorse Israel going after Iranian facilities as he boarded Air Force One, Biden told reporters: “The answer is no.”

He also reiterated what he described as “full solidarity and support to Israel and its people” on the part of the United States.

Andrew Feinberg reports:

A charter plane carrying British nationals from Lebanon has landed in Birmingham.

The Dan Air plane touched down at Birmingham International Airport shortly before 8.40pm, having departed from Beirut and stopped off in Bucharest, Romania, on its journey.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said earlier on Wednesday that further flights were planned for Thursday and over the coming days.

Tens of thousands of airline passengers are waking up where they did not expect to be after carriers diverted many planes in response to Iran’s overnight attack on Israel.

The normal flightpath from Europe and North America to the Gulf and south Asia is to fly to the southeast corner of Turkey and then head southeast over either Iran or Iraq.

But as missiles were fired from Iran over Iraq towards Israel, the airspace of both countries was closed. Jordan’s skies were also closed temporarily.

Travel Correspondent Simon Calder reports:

Only historians will be able to tell us whether the Middle East is now facing its most dangerous moment since the Yom Kippur war in 1973, writes former foreign secretary Jack Straw. It easily could be, and it certainly feels that both sides are gambling with much higher stakes than ever.

The leaders on both sides are under great personal pressure. For all its shortcomings (and there are many under Bibi Netanyahu, who heads up a fragile coalition and is subject to corruption charges), Israel is a democracy. Iran is not.

Part of its government is elected. But its defence, intelligence, and security apparatus are under the direct control of its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, aged 85, who has never once been out of Iran since he assumed office in 1989. He’s propped up by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and an extensive network of true believers across Iran. Their blind faith and fanaticism has to be seen to be believed.

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The US State Department has said Israel’s decision to bar the UN’s chief from entering the country is “not productive”.

Israel's foreign minister said on Wednesday that he was barring U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from entering the country because he had not "unequivocally" condemned Iran's missile attack on Israel.

Asked about the move at a press briefing, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said: "Steps like these are not productive to (Israel) improving its standing in the world."

The US State Department has said it has “made clear” to Israel that the US does not want to see civilians or civilian infrastructure targeted in Lebanon.