UK warns against all travel to Israel as it moves jets to Middle East

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Britain has issued a new advice for its citizens not to travel to Israel, where Prime Minister Sir Kerr Starmer refused to exclude the use of aircraft RV to help defend Israel from Iranian air attacks.

On Sunday, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office issued updated guidelines to advise any travel to “Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories”, warning that “this is a rapid movement situation that poses great risks.”

“The situation has the ability to deteriorate further, quickly and without warning,” FCDO added.

This is the first time that Britain has recommended traveling to any part of Israel since 2013, when FCDo has created custom travel advice pages.

Starmer did not rule out the provision of air support for defense Israel Of the Iranian attacks, as additional combat aircraft were deployed on the British Royal Air Force and other military aircraft in the Middle East.

He said on Saturday that this step was “emergency” to support regional security, but he hinted that the United Kingdom also provided defense support to Israel in its confrontation with it Iran.

The Prime Minister told reporters on his way to the Group 7 summit in Canada after he was asked about Iranian threats: “We are transporting assets to the region, including planes, to support emergency in the region.”

A government spokesman said on Sunday: “We have always been clear that we support Israel and its need to protect its security and members … We are working closely with our allies to push for a return to diplomacy,” a government spokesman said on Sunday.

When asked whether the UK might reduce its restrictions on arms sales to Israel, which the ministers presented in September, our spokesman added: “Our long position on this is that we always maintain these matters under review.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said in a series of media interviews on Sunday that the main purpose of spreading the British Royal Air Force is “protecting our employees and our rules in the region.”

But it also refused to exclude the British participation in protecting Israel, with a distinction between a defensive role and the participation of attacks on Iran.

“So far we have not participated,” Reeves stressed, but Sky News told us: “We have supported in the past Israel when there were upcoming missiles. I will not comment on what might happen in the future.”

Reeves called for “the abolition of the escalation”, noting that the escalating war will get “repercussions all over the world.” She added: “We have already seen in the past few days that oil and gas prices begin to rise.”

Starmer, who held talks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Saturday before traveling to Alberta to obtain a group of 7, refused to discuss operational issues, but he said the situation was “intense” and “fast moving”.

On Saturday, Iranian government media said that the French and American bases in the region will be attacked if countries help Israel in any way. Britain has access to the bases in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and a location in Bahrain.

Starmer said he had a “good and constructive” discussion with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, adding that it included talks “on safety and Israel, as you expect between two allies.”

Starmer said: “The message is: canceling manufacturing.” “We have long -term concerns about the nuclear program that Iran has. We are aware of Israel’s right to self -defense. But I am completely clear that this needs to get rid of escalation. There is a great danger to escalation of the region.”

He also warned of the potential impact of increasing the conflict on the global economy. He said: “You can see the impact on the economy and oil prices. Of course, all this is related to what is going on in Gaza. So you can see why my strong position is: this needs to get rid of the escalation.”

The government said that as part of the emergency scale, “fast aircraft” and “growing aircraft” were sent from the United Kingdom to the Middle East.

The government said that the plane began preparing for publication on Friday morning, “when it was clear that the situation in the area was deteriorating.”

The UK has already has Gates shelves stationed in the region as part of its contribution to a shading process, which targets the remains of the ISIS jihadist group.

Starmer said he discussed the escalation with US President Donald Trump on Friday and with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday. He said he expected more calls with world leaders during the trip to Canada.

Participated in additional reports by Mary Novak in London

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2025-06-15 14:44:00

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