Britain is sending destroyer HMS Dragon from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Middle East amid preparations for a possible multinational mission to safeguard shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, British media said on Saturday.
The move would allow the destroyer to contribute immediately, if needed, to a future operation aimed at ensuring freedom of navigation in the waterway, Sky News quoted Britain's Ministry of Defence as saying.
Any plan would be strictly defensive and aimed at restoring confidence for commercial shipping, the ministry added.
In March, the ship was deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean to begin "operational integration" into Cyprus' defenses, according to the Royal Navy.
HMS Dragon's redeployment came after France and Britain proposed multinational escort efforts to restore navigation in the Hormuz Strait.
French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is also heading toward the Red Sea, the French defense ministry said earlier this week.
UK sends HMS Dragon to Middle East ahead of potential Hormuz mission: media
At least 15 people were killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, according to Lebanese official sources.
At least one child was among those killed and several children were among those injured in the strikes, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry and the National News Agency.
The Israeli army on Saturday morning ordered residents of southern Lebanese towns to evacuate before conducting airstrikes and demolishing homes.
Israeli attacks and airstrikes in Lebanon since March 2 had killed 2,795 people and injured 8,586 others, according to the latest data released by the Emergency Operations Center of Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it launched a rocket barrage overnight targeting a gathering of Israeli military vehicles and soldiers along the Lebanon-Israel border, in response to Israeli violations of the ceasefire.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said the group was in a "defensive position" against Israeli "aggression" and warned that Israel should expect a response whenever it targets Lebanese villages or Beirut's southern suburbs. An Israeli soldier was seriously injured, and two others moderately injured in Israeli territory near the Lebanese border by an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah on Saturday, according to a statement issued by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The soldiers were rushed to a hospital, the statement said, adding that additional explosive drones launched by Hezbollah fell in Israeli territory near the border, without causing any casualties.
Another explosive drone hit an unmanned IDF engineering vehicle in southern Lebanon, with no casualties reported, the IDF said, adding that its air force intercepted several projectiles launched by Hezbollah toward Israeli soldiers operating in southern Lebanon.
The exchanges of fire came despite a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that took effect last month following weeks of cross-border fighting tied to broader regional tensions triggered by the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.
15 killed in Israeli strikes in S. Lebanon
