Israel launched fresh airstrikes on southern Lebanon this morning, defying calls from Donald Trump to halt operations. The former president’s blunt criticism landed like a bombshell in Downing Street, where Sir Keir Starmer is racing to contain a regional meltdown.
Whitehall sources tell me the PM’s team was blindsided by Trump’s late-night broadside. He accused Jerusalem of ‘losing the plot’ and demanded an immediate ceasefire. But Israeli defence chiefs ignored the order, pressing ahead with strikes on Hezbollah targets near the Litani River.
Starmer’s response was textbook Labour: cautious, multilateral, and heavy on ‘dialogue’. He phoned Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning, followed by a call to President Biden. The readout was thin. ‘Shared commitment to de-escalation’ – meaning everyone is terrified of a wider war.
The real story is the tremor inside the cabinet. Several ministers are furious at being kept in the dark about UK contingency plans for evacuating British nationals. One told me: ‘We are learning about this from the news, not the Foreign Office.’ Backbenchers are muttering about a lack of strategy.
Sources in the Foreign Office concede the situation is ‘gloomy’. The Israeli strikes came after a rocket attack from Lebanese territory on an IDF base. But the scale of the response has alarmed even some usual allies. The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet tomorrow. Expect a lot of hand-wringing.
What happens next rests on two men: Biden and Netanyahu. The White House is reportedly ‘deeply frustrated’ but unwilling to cut military aid. Starmer is caught in the middle. He needs to show leadership but has limited leverage. The spectre of Trump’s comeback adds to the tension. If he returns, the rules of the game change completely.
For now, the Lobby is buzzing with one question: Can Starmer keep his party together? The left flank is already demanding a tougher line on Israel. Centrists want him to back the strikes as self-defence. It’s a familiar trap. The PM’s instinct is to triangulate. But wars do not forgive fudge.
