RAF fighter jets have shot down drones targeting UK allies in the Middle East, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. The jets intercepted a drone heading towards Bahrain and took out an uncrewed aerial system to defend Jordan, as fighting in the region intensifies.
Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed the military action and said fragments of a drone that struck the UK base at Akrotiri, Cyprus, were being examined for “foreign military equipment”. He also announced that the destroyer HMS Dragon would set sail for the eastern Mediterranean “in the next couple of days” to join US air defence vessels.
Mr Healey urged de-escalation in Lebanon, calling Hezbollah a “dangerous terror organisation tied to the regime in Iran”. He said: “It must cease these attacks against Israel, but we do not want to see Israel expand this conflict further into Lebanon. More than 400 have already been killed and half a million displaced by recent Israeli operations.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer warned that the longer the war continues, the more likely it is to cause economic damage in the UK. Chancellor Rachel Reeves also said the conflict is “likely to put upward pressure on inflation” over the coming months.
The war between the US, Israel and Iran entered its tenth day, with Israeli strikes against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and Iran confirming Mojtaba Khamenei would take over as supreme leader. Human Rights Watch accused Israel of using white phosphorus over civilian homes in Lebanon, and Qatar intercepted 17 ballistic missiles and six drones launched from Iran.
French President Emmanuel Macron sent warships to the Red Sea in an apparent attempt to lift Iran’s siege of the Strait of Hormuz, as oil prices surged above $100 a barrel. A seventh US service member was named as Benjamin Pennington, 26, who died from injuries sustained in an attack in Saudi Arabia.
