The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has pledged to ramp up military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, directly rebuffing calls from the UK and other allies for restraint. The announcement, made late last night from his office in Jerusalem, signals a hardening of Israeli strategy despite growing diplomatic pressure.
Whitehall sources confirm that the Foreign Office had been quietly lobbying Tel Aviv to avoid a full-scale escalation. But the message was ignored. 'They are not listening,' a senior diplomat admitted. 'Not to us, not to anyone.'
The timing is brutal for Downing Street. Sir Keir Starmer is already grappling with a backbench revolt over Gaza. Now he faces a fresh crisis. Lebanon could become the defining foreign policy test of his premiership.
Netanyahu's statement was unambiguous. 'We will not be deterred. We will hit our enemies with force they have never imagined,' he said. Military sources in Israel suggest preparations are underway for a ground incursion. Reservists have been called up. Tanks are massing near the northern border.
For the UK, this is an unwelcome reminder of its diminished influence. The special relationship is real. But it is not what it was. Power has shifted. Washington is distracted. Europe is fractured. And Israel is acting unilaterally.
Labour MPs are uneasy. The Stop the War coalition is mobilising. Letters of complaint are being drafted. Starmer's room for manoeuvre is shrinking. He cannot afford a second Middle Eastern conflict. But he cannot stop it either.
Defence sources warn that an Israeli offensive in Lebanon would be far more dangerous than the current campaign in Gaza. Hezbollah is better armed. It has tens of thousands of rockets. Its fighters are battle-hardened in Syria. The risk of regional conflagration is high.
Downing Street has issued a carefully worded statement calling for 'immediate de-escalation on all sides.' It is a standard line. It will achieve nothing. The real work is happening in private, through back channels that are getting nowhere.
The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, has spoken to his Israeli counterpart. The conversation was 'frank and constructive.' Translation: it was tense. Britain is being treated as a supplicant, not a partner.
This is the new reality of British foreign policy. The UK is a middle power with global pretensions but limited leverage. The Prime Minister knows this. His predecessors knew it. But the knowledge does not make the pill easier to swallow.
On the ground in Lebanon, the situation is deteriorating. Strikes have hit the outskirts of Beirut. Casualties are mounting. Civilians are fleeing the south. The UN has warned of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Netanyahu is betting that escalation will bring Hezbollah to the negotiating table. But that is a gamble. Hezbollah's leadership has vowed to fight to the death. The rhetoric is as hard as Israel's.
So this is where we are. Israel is doubling down. The UK is wringing its hands. And the crisis is accelerating. Starmer will have to decide how much political capital to burn on this. His MPs are watching. The public is anxious. And the world is not waiting.
There will be no easy way out. Not for Netanyahu. Not for Starmer. The game of nations is brutal. And right now, Britain is on the sidelines.
