UK sends 'urgent' warning to US and Israel over continued bombardment of Lebanon

 Yvette Cooper has said she is "extremely concerned" about the escalation of Israeli strikes on Lebanon - and that Lebanon must be "urgently" included in a ceasefire deal in the region.

The Foreign Secretary said Israel's continued bombardment of Lebanon yesterday was the "wrong thing to do" as cracks emerged in a ceasefire in the region.

Just hours after Donald Trump announced the agreement, confusion broke out over the Israel-Hezbollah conflict with Israel claiming that war is outside of the ceasefire, whilst peace broker Pakistan claimed it was included.

Israel battered Lebanon and Iran retaliated by threatening ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Israel bragged of launching 100 attacks in 10 minutes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut, claiming its conflict was not in the peace deal.

Speaking on Thursday morning, Ms Cooper told BBC Breakfast: "I'm extremely concerned about the escalation of Israeli strikes that we saw yesterday. I'm concerned that we're seeing some of the humanitarian consequences with the mass displacement of civilians and also the deaths that we saw yesterday. We want to see Lebanon urgently included as part of the ceasefire.

"Building on the ceasefire that has been announced, we want to see an end to hostilities in Lebanon. I think that is actually the right thing to do for Israel's security, as well as for the wider security of the region and of the Middle East as a whole. We urgently want to see that end to hostilities."

Pressed by LBC on whether she would condemn Israel's actions, she added: "I do thing this is absolutely the wrong thing to do."

In a speech this evening, Ms Cooper will also demand that shipping must be toll-free and unhindered through the Strait of Hormuz. She said this morning it is "crucial" that Iran is not allowed to introduce tolls on the shipping route.

"This is an international transit route through the high seas so it cannot be allowed to apply tolls and restrictions on that route as it reopens," she said.

Keir Starmer and world leaders yesterday demanded Israel end its assault on Lebanon as they called for the US-Iran ceasefire to be permanent. The Prime Minister travelled to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for talks with Gulf leaders to push for a long-term resolution to the conflict.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday fiercely condemned what he said were "indiscriminate strikes" carried out by Israel in Lebanon. "We condemn these strikes in the strongest possible terms," he said on X.

US Vice President JD Vance yesterday said there has been a "misunderstanding" over the ceasefire agreement and that Lebanon was not included. Speaking in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, he said: “I think this comes from a legitimate misunderstanding.

"I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it just didn’t. We never made that promise, we never indicated that was going to be the case.”

But Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif - whose country has been mediating ceasefire talks - said the US, Iran and their allies “have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere, including Lebanon”. He said the move was effective immediately.

Mr Trump struck the ceasefire deal with Iran at the 11th hour on Tuesday night. The US President had threatened a "a whole civilisation will die" if Iran did not agree to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane which had been blockaded by Tehran.