Israel emergency evacuations: British nationals board Royal Air Force plane after US attacked Iran nuclear sites

One of the first emergency evacuations since the US attacked nuclear sites in Iran has taken place with video footage showing the moment British nationals boarded a Royal Air Force (RAF) plane out of Israel.

Armed forces minister Luke Pollard said the UK was monitoring the “fast-changing situation” closely and that “the UK Government utterly condemns any escalation”. Iran announced on state television that it had attacked forces stationed at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base, in retaliation to America’s strikes on its nuclear programme.

The UK has since started evacuating Britons from Israel, with the first group of 63 flown back via Cyprus and due to return to the UK on Monday. The Foreign Secretary said an RAF A400 had taken the group of British nationals and that more flights will follow.

Downing Street said “around 1,000” people had requested a seat on an evacuation flight – a quarter of the 4,000 who had registered their presence in Israel or Palestine with the Foreign Office.

On Monday (June 23) at 3pm local time, a flight took off from Tel Aviv airport, headed for a base in Larnaca, Cyprus. Upon landing, passengers aboard the flight broke into a chorus of 'God Save the King'.

It is understood passengers will then board another plane returning to the UK. One passenger - who wished to remain anonymous - said he was notified at 3am local time that a flight would be made available to take people home.

The passenger on board said: "We were notified at 3am this morning. People are feeling very relieved, there are lots of empty seats on board despite people saying it is full."

Flights from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport have been suspended since June 13, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran. Earlier this morning, it was announced flights would resume to take stuck foreigners back to their home countries.

Meanwhile, Israeli jets hit targets in Tehran on Monday including the security headquarters of the Revolutionary Guard Corps and Evin Prison, the regime’s main site for detaining political prisoners and human rights activists.

In turn, Iran carried out its own strikes against cities in Israel, and sparked fears of a wider regional conflict as it accused the US of crossing “a very big red line”.