Hezbollah has walked away from the latest ceasefire proposal for Lebanon. The move came hours after the UK confirmed it has military assets on standby in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The breakdown is a blow to diplomatic efforts. Sources close to the negotiations say the sticking point was the withdrawal of Hezbollah's elite units from the Litani River area. The group's leadership sees this as a red line.
No 10 is staying tight-lipped. But I'm told the Joint Operations Centre in Cyprus has been put on a higher alert footing. The British Army's 16 Air Assault Brigade remains poised for a potential non-combatant evacuation operation.
Whitehall is bracing for a long night. The Foreign Office has updated its travel advice: do not travel to southern Lebanon.
This is a fluid situation. Watch this space.
