UK defense chief to chair emergency meeting on Mideast crisis: Reports

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - A day after Israel continued to pound southern Lebanon, killing hundreds of people, the British defense secretary is reportedly heading to London to chair an emergency meeting on the escalating Middle East crisis, said local media on Tuesday.

John Healey left a Labour Party conference in Liverpool for London to chair an emergency meeting known as COBRA on the situation in the Middle East, Sky News reported.

At least 558 people have been killed, including 95 women and 50 children, and 1,835 others injured in Israeli attacks in Lebanon since Monday morning, according to Lebanese health officials.

Following a wave of deadly wireless device attacks in Lebanon blamed on Israel, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy last week expressed deep concern over rising tensions in the country and urged UK citizens to leave while they still can.

Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border hostilities since the start of Tel Aviv’s war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,400 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.