Daily Mail: British Forces Train Secretly in Lebanon to Save Britons Trapped in Gaza

Hundreds of elite British forces are training secretly in Lebanon to rescue Britons trapped in a war zone in the Middle East, the Daily Mail reported.

According to the British newspaper, it is expected that the British Army Rangers unit, which was formed only two years ago, will conduct an airlift operation alongside the Royal Air Force, to extract the British who have been held in Gaza since Israel declared war on the Hamas movement.

The newspaper reported that the detailed plans remain secret to ensure the element of surprise, as there is a risk that Britons in countries such as Lebanon will be taken hostage by Hezbollah.

British Chief of the General Staff, General Patrick Sanders, confirmed that British forces were "preparing to carry out non-combat extraction operations in parts of the Middle East region. We are preparing ourselves for that."

Patrick stressed that it was unlikely that British forces would be drawn into combat or conflict directly and that military planners would seek to avoid this.

He added before the House of Commons Defense Committee that the presence of British forces near Israel also aims to "deter" Iran from entering the conflict directly.