ISRAEL issued new evacuation orders for swathes of the Lebanese capital Beirut today, a day after intense bombing of residential areas that killed at least 253 people and wounded more than a thousand.

Its escalation of the war threatened to derail the ceasefire just concluded between the United States and Iran, which said Israel’s actions “blatantly violated” the deal and that it was closing the Strait of Hormuz to shipping again in response.

President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X today: “Such actions signal deception and non-compliance, rendering negotiations meaningless.” Pakistan, which helped broker the deal, confirmed that Lebanon was included in the agreement, which Israel and the United States deny.

US President Donald Trump suggested Iran was now violating the deal by stopping shipping through the strait, demanding it comply with “the real agreement,” and that if it did not the “shootin’ starts.”

Israel’s continuing war in Lebanon was condemned internationally — with even British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper saying she was “deeply troubled” by it and that if Lebanon is not included in the ceasefire it could “destabilise the whole region.”

But Islington North MP and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said it was odd if Ms Cooper was “so ‘troubled,’ that the government still supplies Israel with weapons and intelligence.

“Israel is committing war crimes in Lebanon — and this government is shamefully complicit,” he said.

Labour MPs also condemned the government’s response to the latest developments.

John McDonnell wrote on X: “It was Netanyahu who started this war that has killed so many and put at risk the living standards of people across the world, and it’s Netanyahu who is now undermining the ceasefire and chance of peace.

“Keir Starmer should lead and introduce sanctions against Israel immediately.”

During a press conference in Washington, Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte criticised Nato members for having been slow to support the US war on Iran but claimed they were now providing “massive” support — singling Britain out for praise for allegedly “leading a coalition of countries” to ensure free passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

While multiple countries have begun talks with Iran over allowing their ships through — Germany, despite what Chancellor Friedrich Merz called a “long silence” between the two, admitted to doing so today — it is unclear what sort of mission Mr Rutte was referring to. The negotiating points in the ceasefire deal included Iran levying a toll on ships passing through the strait, which would leave Iran in a stronger geopolitical position following the war than before it.

Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Diane Abbott said: “The Strait of Hormuz was open before the US and Israel launched their illegal war.

“If [Prime Minister Sir Keir] Starmer wants to reopen it, he should tell them to stop bombing. Instead, he is helping them.”

Sir Keir was on the second leg of his trip to Gulf countries today when he said he was seeking to minimise the economic impact of the war, which has already sent oil, gas and fertiliser prices soaring. Each will have significant knock-on inflationary effects.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed to have asked for direct talks with the Lebanese government on ending the conflict, but as he specified that these would focus on “disarming Hezbollah” — widely viewed as militarily stronger than the Lebanese army — it is unclear if the request was serious.

Israeli ministers have already warned that they will not allow Lebanese citizens to return to their homes in an exclusionary zone south of the Litani river, where houses and infrastructure are being bulldozed, and that they intend to change the country’s borders permanently.

Israeli MP Ofer Cassif of the Hadash alliance and Communist Party of Israel pointed out that Israel did not issue a statement in Hebrew or address the Israeli people on the ceasefire deal for a whole day, instead issuing an English-language statement asserting Lebanon was not included.

Fellow Hadash MP Ayman Odeh expressed scant confidence that Mr Netanyahu could be trusted to keep to a deal. “Netanyahu is a liar and an international pyromaniac,” he said.

And Wednesday’s devastating bombing prompted international outrage as the huge death toll became clear.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) medical co-ordinator and nurse Safa Bleik, who was at Rafik Hariri University Hospital when the bombardment began on Wednesday, said ambulances “began arriving, and they didn’t stop.”

“What we saw that day was not just a medical emergency,” she said.

“It was the direct impact of attacks on civilians, residential areas, on families, on children, on people who, just hours earlier, were living their normal lives.”

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament said that the targeting of residential areas and infrastructure “are war crimes,” and that diplomatic routes “are the only way to secure a permanent end to the US and Israel illegal aggression.”

It said in a statement: “European leaders, including Britain, have all called for Lebanon to be part of the ceasefire.

“However, words are not enough. All these leaders must take immediate action.

“Starmer must stand up to Trump and Netanyahu and end all arms sales to Israel — including parts for Israel’s nuclear submarines.

“Britain must also issue sanctions on this country and cut all diplomatic ties.”

The campaign group said that Mr Trump’s nuclear threats “are just more evidence of why Britain must break with his administration.

“Starmer must end Trump’s use of all British bases, including the stationing of Trump’s deadly nuclear weapons at Lakenheath,” it urged.