in other news, german police say a syrian man has confessed to carrying out a mass stabbing attack in the city of solingen. telegram founder pavel durov is expected in a french court today after being arrested on saturday when his privatejet landed in paris hello, i'm nicky schiller. we start with a major development in the middle east. there's been an intense exchange of fire between israel and hezbollah militants. israel launched a wave of air strikes against hezbollah positions in lebanon, saying it was pre—empting plans for a large—scale attack. israel's prime minister has promised to do everything to protect the country. these are the latest pictures coming from northern israel. hezbollah said it fired hundreds of rockets towards israel in its first response to israel's assassination of a senior commander in beirut last month.

it denied israel's assertion that it had thwarted the attack. the israeli military said it struck and destroyed thousands of hezbollah rocket launchers in southern lebanon aimed at northern israel. the israel defence forces released these pictures which it says are those strikes on lebanon. officials say around 100 fighter jets took part in the operation. lebanon's ministry of health says three people have been killed in areas in the south of the country. these pictures are from the village of zibqin, where you can see a huge cloud of smoke rising following an israeli air strike. lebanon's state—run national news agency called it a "large—scale air aggression" by israel. hezbollah said it launched more than 300 rockets and drones at israel and targeted 11 military sites in response to the killing of its top commander in beirut last month. the group said this was an initial response and that todays planned

attack on israel had been "completed and accomplished". tensions between israel and the iranian—backed group escalated sharply after the assassination stoking fears of a wider middle east conflict. hezbollah's leader is due to give a speech at 18:00 local time. the group said this was an initial response and that todays planned a state of emergency is in force in israel and the security cabinet�*s been meeting. prime minister, benjamin netanyhu, promised he would �*do everything' to restore security at its northern border and continue to uphold what he called a simple rule: "whoever hurts us — "we hurt them". these are live pictures from the israel—lebanon border. flights to and from tel aviv�*s ben gurion airport were temporarily suspended earlier but have since been reinstated. although air france has cancelled its flights to tel aviv and beirut until monday at least. let me show you some pictures from

beirut international airport. you can see passengers waiting for their flights as others check the departure boards in the hope they can reach their final destination. lieutenant colonel nadav shoshani is an idf international spokesperson. he told me why israel carried out these strikes. it's called active defence. it goes along with our defence aerial systems. and together, we were able to thwart this attack by hezbollah that they were threatening for a wider escalation, they were threatening to hit civilians and military bases and we were able to thwart it with active defence against those rocket launchers pointed at israeli communities with rockets in them and prevent those that were fired eventually. how many targets do you claim that you have hit? we are still in this ongoing operation and ongoing tension. we've hit thousands of rocket launcher barrels and we've thwarted hundreds of rockets and uavs in the air on their way

to israeli communities in northern and central israel. we've had some international reaction to events. presidentjoe biden is directing us officials to maintain close communication with israel. a national security spokesman said "president biden is closely monitoring events in israel and lebanon. he has been engaged with his national security team throughout the evening. at his direction, senior us officials have been communicating continuously with their israeli counterparts. we will keep supporting israel's right to defend itself, and we will keep working for regional stability." pictures are coming in all the time from both israel and lebanon. i wanted to show you these still images from the epa newsagency. we're told the photos show the moment an israeli fighterjet intercepted a hezbollah unmanned aerial vehicle. you can see the explosion and debris.

it was crossing from lebanon over an area near the border with israel. 0ur senior international correspondent 0rla guerin is in southern lebanon. and our correspondentjon donnison, who's injerusalem, gave us the latest updates, starting with 0rla and what hezbollah was saying. hezbollah says today's operation has now been as far as they are concerned that they are making it clear that this phase of what they say will be a large operation is now finished and we have had a statement this morning saying that the operation took place, the statement denied that israel had managed to thwart that, it said these were empty claims from the israelis and there will be contradiction coming later in an address by the leader of hezbollah. it is important to say we do not actually know how effective the hezbollah operation was.

they say they fired 320 rockets towards israel and also sent drones, we do not know how many of those were intercepted on the way, how many shot down, whether any actually landed in israel and caused damage. we have had no reports so farfrom inside israel of civilian casualties. one report from lebanese authorities that one man has been killed in a drone strike on a car, he has been identified as a fighter. within the last few hours, we have been seeing and hearing continuing israeli strikes taking place in the hills in the distance close to the border. we saw at least two explosions and very dense black smoke filling the sky after a particularly large blast. israel has been continuing to target locations here in the south. what is unclear is whether the israelis will want to take things further or if we will go back

to the tit—for—tat that has been the case for the last ten months. hezbollah says it is because of the killing of their commander in beirut. give me your assessment of how concerned we should be by today's events. every day there is cause for conern because since last october hezbollah has been filing into israel, if i have the first shots in this round of violence, sediment acting in solidarity with the palestinian people and supporting their allies hamas who are also backed by iran. there has been a pattern to all of this where the attacks have mainly been on military targets on each side and mainly within the border zones of each country. that has done a lot of damage, more than 100,000 people

have had to flee here, about 60,000 had to flee in israel and are still out of their homes and there have been fatalities, hezbollah has lost more than 400 fighters and more than 100 civilians have been killed in israeli attacks, according to the lebanese authorities. 0n the other side, the death toll is a lot lower, more than a0 people, but at least two dozen civilians in the numbers. things have been contained to this pretty familiar tit—for—tat pattern. the fear on the part of the international community is that every day this continues, either israel or hezbollah could reach a tipping point into all—out war. in the past few days the tempo of the attacks has increased, things have been happening faster, and we have had this major operation by hezbollah which israel said it acted pre—emptively to try to stop. we are certainly at an inflection point, the question

is what israel does now. hezbollah is making it clear that for its part that is it for the moment, although there is every reason to believe the normal level of violence, if we can call it that, that will continue and that in itself is risky. on that question, john, what do you think israel might do next? as 0rla was saying, they are continuing operations in southern lebanon and the last few hours with a number of strikes on what _ they say are hezbollah targets. we had thought prior to that it had quietened down but israel is saying it is prepared to go to war full—scale with lebanon. these strikes overnight were the biggest on the hezbollah side since 2006, both sides

are saying they do not want a return to full—scale war but israel saying it is prepared to go there if it has to. what will the impact to be on the ceasefire talks which are today happening in cairo? those talks which are continuing but are not really going anywhere at the moment, hamas is not even taking part. the americans have said securing a ceasefire and hostage release deal in gaza is crucial to de—escalating tensions on the northern border. they are not going anywhere. i do not think anyone is expecting an imminent ceasefire to be announced. despite very intensive diplomacy and pressure from the us and egypt and qatar, who have been mediating these talks, there is no real sign of a deal, so if we do not get that there is every reason to think

we could see a return to some sort of normality and tit—for—tat on the border up in the north, but there is always the risk if there is heavy exchanges of fire that _ you will get civilians killed and then you could see things gaining momentum of their own. how much pressure do you think, if this does escalate, that will put on the international community to get that ceasefire deal and the hostages out, and particularly thinking of america but also egypt and qatar? it will add to the pressure, but i do not think they can really be doing any more than they have been for the past few weeks. we had the american secretary of state antony blinken in the region last week, he was pushing the israelis to sign up to the deal. he said they had accepted and supported what he called the bridging proposal.

we have not had similar statements from benjamin netanyahu. there is no doubt qatar and egypt are also pushing hard for a deal. the key players, and that is benjamin netanyahu and the hamas leader in gaza, yahya sinwar, they do not seem to have the urgency and are not working to the same timetable as everyone else. 0rla, i wondered what the public mood in lebanon is, the everyday people trying to go about their work and life in lebanon? there are different strands to this. people are weary and certainly anxious about the idea of another all—out war. there are very fresh memories of the level of damage done in 2006 — the last time a lot of lebanese infrastructure was destroyed and more than 1,000

people were killed. let's not forget this is a country that since then has come through a series of crisis including an economic collapse and ongoing political paralysis and the disastrous explosion in beirut port four years ago. lebanon cannot afford another war, does not want another war, but when you speak to people here, they make it clear they will not be the decision—makers, they understand perfectly well it will not be the lebanese government or army that decides on whether or not there is war — it will be the iranian backed group hezbollah and israel. to some extent that is a degree of resignation but there's also anxiety. plenty of people have left the area and gone abroad and some to more secure mountain areas. people have been waiting since last month, when israel carried out an assassination in iran

on the leader of hamas at that time, it is widely blamed for that assassination, it has accepted responsibility for the assassination in lebanon of a senior hezbollah commander. since then, the clock has been ticking. we have had now round one as far as hezbollah is concerned of the retaliation and we wait to see the israelis will take things further or if we relapse back to the standard level of violence which goes on here day—to—day, tit—for—tat attack and counterattack. back to the live pictures we are getting from the border. we did just see some smoke rising in that area. we should say that yemen's 0oty movement has commented, calling the attack courageous against the

israeli enemy. the iran backed group also reiterated its intention to carry out attacks. reaction to today's intense exchange of fire between israel and hezbollah militants is coming in all the time. we have a live page up and running with the very latest reports and analysis from our correspondents around the region — you can find that on the bbc news website and app. you can also scan the qr code on the right—hand side your screen. anti—terrorist prosecutors have taken over the investigation into friday's mass stabbing in the town of solingen in western germany. a suspect who turned himself in is said to have confessed to carrying out the attack. the authorities say the man, a 26—year—old syrian, is suspected of being a member of the islamic state group. in the last few minutes, germany�* vice—chancellor has called for tougher knife laws in the wake

of the attack. 0ur correspondent in berlin, damien mcguinness, told us what we know about the suspect. quite a lot of details have been emerging overnight. i talked to police earlier and they told me that they confirmed he is indeed a 26—year—old syrian national. they would not confirm any other reports of whether he had come to germany as an asylum seeker, which is being reported in some german media, but in a television interview this morning the interior minister of the region said the suspect had been living in refugee accommodation which has since been raided by police, so there seems to be a connection with the shelter. there have been other arrests which has led to confusion about who police think is the suspect. they have been saying all along

they thinkjust one person was responsible for the attack. there was a 15—year—old boy arrested yesterday. he is thought to have known about the attack in advance. he was heard to be talking about it before it happened. he has been charged with not reporting a crime to the police. police are hoping he can give more information about the attacker or suspect and his motivation. another man who was taken from the refugee shelter for questioning is being questioned by police now so he might possibly have a connection to the suspect. the next stage is police are handing over this case to the prosecutor general, which is an indication the authorities are treating this as a terror—related act. we have seen the flowers being left and a church service today —

still a lot of shock in the city? that is right, this was supposed to be three days of celebration, a festival which started on friday and ending today and instead it is a weekend of mourning and shock. across the region in the last 2a hours, festivals and festivities that were planned, cancelled, cafes empty and restaurants empty, people avoiding public transport because no one knew what was happening, there was a fear the attacker was on the loose and potentially dangerous. it appears he went straight into hiding, reportedly hiding in a courtyard behind an apartment block near the crime scene, then he gave himself up to police late last night, saying he was the attacker. police have to investigate whether this is true and piecing together the evidence they have to find out whether the suspect is indeed the man behind the stabbing.

telegram is one of the most downloaded apps in the world. it's popular with pro—democracy movements and other protesters in countries which have strict laws, but it has also been used for criminal activity. it's understood the russian founder of the telegram messaging app, pavel durov, is to appear in court in france today. he was arrested when his private jet arrived at an airport near paris. russia says the french authorities are not responding to requests for information about mr durov�*s detention. let's speak to nazar tokar, a ceo of kremlingram.org, an investigative group studying telegram's security and its potential ties to the kremlin. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. there will be a lot of people who don't use telegram, so just explain to us what telegram is and how it works?—

explain to us what telegram is and how it works? hello, well, telegram is a ma'or how it works? hello, well, telegram is a major platform _ how it works? hello, well, telegram is a major platform that _ how it works? hello, well, telegram is a major platform that was - how it works? hello, well, telegram is a major platform that was created | is a major platform that was created as a messenger but eventually transformed into a media platform, where a lot of people are getting their news, daily news, and spending at least one hour a day. it is very popular in ukraine, in uzbekistan, russia, more or less popular in iran and india. and over the years, it also became, let's say, a haven for criminals who were conducting their activities, like money—laundering or selling some stuff that is prohibited on the platform. and the platform itself is not getting in touch, not working with the police of democratic countries, and they

are working in really tight connections with the russian fsb. so, were you surprised that the french authorities arrested paavo durov yesterday? hat french authorities arrested paavo durov yesterday?— durov yesterday? not at all. the timin: is durov yesterday? not at all. the timing is perfect _ durov yesterday? not at all. the timing is perfect as _ durov yesterday? not at all. the timing is perfect as well. - durov yesterday? not at all. the timing is perfect as well. it - durov yesterday? not at all. the timing is perfect as well. it is . timing is perfect as well. it is independence day in ukraine, so it is a good present from them. i think that france also has their own kind of problems with telegram, which is the main source of information and coordination for the wagner group, which is performing in a very active way in africa, where france historically has its own interests. tell us about durov and how he created telegram? the tell us about durov and how he created telegram?— tell us about durov and how he created telegram? the legend says that it was created _

created telegram? the legend says that it was created in _ created telegram? the legend says that it was created in 2013, - created telegram? the legend says that it was created in 2013, when i that it was created in 2013, when the fsb workers, officers came to the fsb workers, officers came to the door of durov in saint petersburg and tried to arrest him, and he didn't have any encrypted messengers to contact his family, so this was the legend. but, as anton rosenberg said, it was his co—worker, the colleague and co—founder of telegram. as he said, it was just co—founder of telegram. as he said, it wasjust an co—founder of telegram. as he said, it was just an offer from the government and he sold the company and then left russia. but later that year, 2014, he came back, and since then he was often a guest in russia, but not publicly.

then he was often a guest in russia, but not publicly-— but not publicly. thank you very much for your— but not publicly. thank you very much for your insight _ but not publicly. thank you very much for your insight into - but not publicly. thank you very - much for your insight into telegram. the paralympic flame is on its way to paris, as 24 british torchbearers head through the channel tunnel they'll be handing the symbolic torch to french paralympians in calais. the torch itself was lit in stoke mandeville yesterday — the birthplace of the paralympic movement, as our reporter matt gravelling explains. the start of a global event began in the most british way possible. cheering. it's been an absolute honour to be asked to come and light the paralympic flame here at the birthplace of the paralympic games, in stoke mandeville. i really believe that we stand on the shoulder of giants and all those people that have gone before, all those paralympians. the flame for the olympic games was created in olympia, in greece, the birthplace of the olympics.

in october, the decision was made that for the paralympic games, the flame would be created here from paris forward — this, the buckinghamshire village stoke mandeville, and the birthplace of the movement. it was in the 1940s that german doctor ludwig guttmann began using sport to help rehabilitate patients with spinal injuries. in 1948, he held the first stoke mandeville games, with 16 injured service personnel competing in archery. the event grew and grew and, in rome in 1960, 400 athletes completed in what is considered the first paralympic games. fast—forward to this summer, and the number of competitors has multiplied by ten, to over 4000. i think what we're going to see from paris, they're going to take it to another level and this is the first time there's really major coverage in the us. so we're going to have athletes now that aren'tjust going to be known in their own country, we could see the first set of truly global superstars coming from these games. this morning, the torch will leave buckinghamshire. 24 british torchbearers will then pass it through the channel tunnel where, at the halfway point, the flame

will be passed over to 24 french torchbearers. once in calais, the flame will be split into 12 different torches, all starting its own relay across the country, with 1000 people covering around 50 towns. that flame will head to paris for wednesday, which is when the opening ceremony is of the paralympics, and of course, we will have full coverage on bbc news, and also across the whole of the paralympics on the bbc sport website and app. stay with us on bbc news. hello there. well, it's another rather breezy day for this time of year, but not as windy as it was at the end of last week. there's yet more wet weather to come in the forecast too. most of that is out towards the north and the west because further south and east, it should stay largely dry. but we've already seen the best of the sunshine this morning, such as here in northamptonshire,

a rather chilly start to the day for this time of year too, many of our temperatures back into single figures. but here comes the rain. it's slowly pushing eastwards across much of scotland, northern ireland and northern england, particularly heavy for southwest scotland, northwest england, where the ground is already saturated. a few patches of rain across wales and for southwest england. it's windy for the time of year, especially for these irish sea coasts, but largely dry across southeast england, central southern england and east anglia, just turning cloudier through the afternoon and temperatures still below the seasonal average. now, overnight tonight, the bulk of that rain clears. a few showers for northern england, southern scotland and maybe some scattered showers too for the far southeast of england, but lots of clear skies and it's a milder start to the day tomorrow than it was earlier on this morning. now, tomorrow, bank holiday, of course, for many of us. high pressure builds in from the south, so it is looking mostly dry. any early showers across the far south and east of england and across northern england should gradually clear.

there'll be a lot of sunny spells around, largely dry, not as windy as it is today and so temperatures will be that little bit higher. in fact, we'll see back to the seasonal average. high teens, low 20s, could get a 23 or 24 celsius in the best of the sunshine across parts of southeast england. but here comes another weather front. that's going to be sinking southwards and eastwards as we head through tuesday. but towards the south and the east, we've got a southerly wind just pushing some warmer—feeling air our way. some uncertainty still on the timing and position of this weather front towards the north and the west. a scattering of showers, also some sunny spells. heavy rain under the front, but for much of england and possibly for eastern areas of wales, it remains dry. there'll be some sunshine and it will be feeling warmer again. temperatures here in the mid—20s. and the peak of the heat in the southeast is likely to be on wednesday, 28 degrees, but further north and west it's cooler with outbreaks of rain. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines... israel says it's destroyed dozens of hezbollah launch sites in lebanon to pre—empt a large— scale missile attack. hezbollah denied the barrage had been stopped, and said more than 300 drones and missiles had been fired at israel, in retaliation for the killing of one of its commanders.

anti—terrorist prosecutors have taken over the investigation into friday's mass stabbing in the town of solingen in western germany. a suspect who turned himself in is said to have confessed to carrying out the attack. the authorities say the 26 year—old syrian is suspected of being a member of the islamic state group. the russian founder of the telegram messaging service, pavel durov, is expected to appear in court later on sunday. french media is reporting that the billionaire was arrested on saturday at an airport on the outskirts of paris. very good afternoon, if you have justjoined us, it'sjust passed 12:30pm. we are going to get more on our top story now. there's been an intense exchange of fire between israel and hezbollah militants. these are live pictures

from the israel—lebanon border. israel launched a wave of airstrikes against hezbollah