Royal Marines are set to launch a mass evacuation of Britons living in the Middle East in a similar style to the evacuation of Dunkirk during WWII.

Commandos have already probed the Lebanese coastline ahead of a potential maritime rescue mission.

The plan, codenamed Operation Meteoric, will be spearheaded by the Green Berets and will be supported by the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.

It has been likened to Operation Dynamo, which saw the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers from Dunkirk in 1940 when they were surrounded by German forces following their Blitzkrieg campaign in France.

Speaking to the Daily Mail earlier this week, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed he "stands ready" to assist any Britons trapped in the region.

He added: "There are plans, but they cannot be discussed for security reasons."

This was done prior to the Iranian drone attack on Israel late last night.

The publication has claimed that a party of Marines from 30 Commando arrived in the region in recent days.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

Lidl pro-Palestine protesters 'brought customers to tears and verbally abused staff'Brian May sparks row as he endorses video calling Israel 'vicious genocidal nation'Fury as iPhone update displays PALESTINE flag emoji when searching for Jerusalem

They studied the Lebanese coastline and selected potential locations for a rescue mission.

RAF jets based out of Akrotiri and Dekhelia in Cyprus could be used to provide "top cover".

The Foreign Office has already advised all British citizens to leave Lebanon.

This comes after Iran launched over 300 drones and missiles towards Israel last night, of which 99 per cent were shot down.

According to the IDF, only seven hit Israel and caused minor damage to the Nevatim airbase in the south of the country.

No fatalities have been reported, with the only injury being a 10-year-old girl, according to the IDF.

Iran has threatened larger attacks if Israel were to retaliate, with Iran seeing this attack as justified and in retaliation to the bombing of their consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus earlier this month, for which they blame the Israelis.

The US was involved in shooting down the hundreds of projectiles overnight, with both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris reaffirming their country's "ironclad" commitment to defend Israel.