thank you forjoining us, we begin with breaking news on the middle east. israel says it has begun a limited ground operation in southern lebanon. in a post to x on just the last hour, the issue of defence force set in accordance with the decision of the political a few hours ago, the idf begin limited localised and targeted ground braids based on intelligence in hezbollah and infrastructure in southern lebanon. these targets are located in villages close to the border and pose an immediate threat to israeli communities in northern israel. we have live pictures of beirut as bbc teams report here on explosions in the capitol southern suburbs, israel has ordered the evacuation of three areas and meanwhile the uk government has charted a flight to help british national sleep lebanon scheduled to leave beirut on wednesday. that as israeli tanks have been seen gathering at the border and as israel's defence minister says

the military is going to use military from the air, land and sea. the deputy chief of hezbollah said the group's fighters are ready to confront invasion, he acknowledged the assassination of leader must is assassination of leader must is a big blow but all following commanders would soon be replaced. let's go right to be rude and anna foster who was standing by for us. thank you forjoining us, we mention the reports of blasts in southern beirut, bring us up—to—date on what you've been witnessing. that's right, the last few hours, there were three more airstrikes here in the southern suburbs of beirut in die here, we knew they were coming because once again, the idf and israel defense forces said they told them to live to evacuate told them to live to evacuate to a safe distance and again, we heard the strikes in the echo around the whole of the city, they are really loud when they happen and you can see the

plumes of the smoke and the flames when it's dark like it is now rising up into the air. and simultaneously, we know israeli forces were moving into southern lebanon across the border areas. they said as you were saying they're in a statement that this would be a limited and a localised ground operation in lebanon. it is difficult to know what kind of form that might take but what is real have said he wants to do is enable people in the north of the country who fled after the attacks on october 7 one october eight, hezbollah started firing rockets into israel and the want to return those tens of dozens of people to their homes and in order to make them safe, they want hezbollah to move out of that border area. after the loss will between these two sites in 2006, the un put a resolution, 1701 that hezbollah shouldn't be in the south of lebanon, that shouldn't be in the area south of the river but they have been and they have been

for a long time. israel wants to push them back but that is a greater distance than a limited and localised ground operation might suggest that we will wait and watch very closely over the next few hours in the next few days to see what form that israeli ground operation here in lebanon will take but it has, as you say, started this evening. has, as you say, started this evening-— evening. the next hours and da s evening. the next hours and days are _ evening. the next hours and days are critical _ evening. the next hours and days are critical and - evening. the next hours and days are critical and i - evening. the next hours and days are critical and i will. days are critical and i will ask you about what we are hearing from hezbollah and from its interim leader now who was taken over its interim leader now who was ta ken over after its interim leader now who was taken over after ms rollo was killed. figs taken over after ms rollo was killed. ~ , i. _ taken over after ms rollo was killed. a i. , taken over after ms rollo was killed. ,,, , killed. as you say, his deputy leader, killed. as you say, his deputy leader. they _ killed. as you say, his deputy leader, they haven't - killed. as you say, his deputy leader, they haven't actually| leader, they haven't actually interesting the new leaderjust yet, we don't know when hassan nasrallah's funeral will take place either. it seems in somewhere that the group is a little bit on pause while they look at what is going on in the south and tried to decide how to respond. now as you said, he

said that they are ready to fight israeli troops even when they come across the border, we know they have but the big question is, what hezbollah�*s capability looks like now, there's been more than a week of israeli airstrikes in the in southern lebanon and the barkaa valley stop israel says it was targeting hezbollah sites there where they were storing weapons, without the ability to fire weapons and we don't know what sort of capability they have left. we know that i have some kind of fighting force ( we know as we were saying that the top command has been decimated including the killing of their leader hassan nasrallah. the group is very much in disarray compared to what it was like just a couple of weeks ago so, what sort of response might they choose to take? will they be trying to defend themselves, will they tried to fight back? they are armed and backed by iran, they had long enough range weapons to be able to target cities

across israel, will they do that? will they get support from mothers iranian proxies in the region from the houthi and yemen perhaps? from around themselves, at this stage, we don't know but there are a lot of dangerous perspectives things that could happen here, all of these responses could happen or none of them and it is a nervous and delicate and difficult moment for this region. difficult moment for this reuion. difficult moment for this re . ion. . ., difficult moment for this reuion. . ., ., region. indeed and we had from lebanese officials _ region. indeed and we had from lebanese officials that - region. indeed and we had from lebanese officials that more - lebanese officials that more than a thousand people have been killed in the last two weeks up to a million a displays, gives a sense of being in beirut of the impact of the fighting so far.- being in beirut of the impact of the fighting so far. here in the capitol. _ of the fighting so far. here in the capitol, you _ of the fighting so far. here in the capitol, you see - of the fighting so far. here in the capitol, you see and - of the fighting so far. here inj the capitol, you see and hear the capitol, you see and hear the impact all the time, wherever you are, be at thoses —— airstrikes that have happen regularly in the southern suburbs of beirut now in the hezbollah stronghold area of dahieh but last night, in an area called outside of the

southern suburbs, in the beirut city limits, that caused real concern because i was israel targeting a different area to the one that it is been focusing on for the last few weeks. you said on the streets here, you see that places are very quiet, you see the shops, cafe's are closer people are staying off the street but equally, you see people actually sleeping in doorways, buildings, you can see behind me in this life shot, you can see marder square and the big mosque where people are sleeping on the steps and in the areas around there, people who fled the southern suburbs on the night that has a nice rather was killed, that strike was such a huge one at its end people fleeing with their families, with whatever they could grab at the time so whatever you look here, you see the impact of this conflict and the impact of this conflict and the effect that it is already having on people which will no

doubt be exacerbated now we have the start of this israeli ground operation inside lebanon and south of the country.- and south of the country. thank ou so and south of the country. thank you so much — and south of the country. thank you so much for— and south of the country. thank you so much for that _ and south of the country. thank you so much for that update, i and south of the country. thank| you so much for that update, we will come back to you in just a little bit to hear what's happening. i'd like to go to jerusalem and our middle east chief is standing by for us there. they get so much for joining us and within mentioning that we heard the statement from the israeli defence force ang is limited localised and targeted ground operation under way, what are we actually know and i know details are scam about what this operation in tales, what types of targets the israel defense forces might be addressing here. in defense forces might be addressing here.- addressing here. in that statement, _ addressing here. in that statement, they - addressing here. in that statement, they are - addressing here. in that. statement, they are talking about terrorist infrastructure and they say they're located in the villages close to the border and is something that they've been telegraphing very loudly over the last week or so and it is now come to pass and i think really, the priority of

the military and to some extent, things tidy of the politicians here was that you can always have a point of which hezbollah agreed to move back north as anna foster was saying, that was the agreement that ended the war, the militarise south and some have feared that there could be brokered honour which removed people but what are kept in place was infrastructure and the huge fear is that on the other side of the border, there are bunkers and there are tunnels that would be used at some point to a sold the northern part of israel and to infiltrate that area with hundreds of troops. we saw only a few years ago, the discovery of three major tunnels in that area they were just about to come up into israel vast endeavours of engineering that would have seen hundreds of hezbollah soldiers rushing

through into their and taking over or at least engaging forces that are potentially taking over villages and commanders there. that someone hezbollah has been very clear about is an ambition over the last 15 years or so, it's called operation technicality and certainly after october 7, israeli military tolerance for that, israeli public�*s tolerance for that level of risk has gone way down and i think things tidy was that the troops could be negotiated away that hezbollah forces could be negotiated north but the infrastructure would remain and somebody in the future, they could be refilled at short notice to threaten those communities in the north so i think that's a priority at the moment is to go sector by sector on the border and to try and clear out this infrastructure to make sure that it doesn't represent that future threat to those communities in the north bullets be clear that there is no way that this ends without

some kind of brokered agreement. that someone has to agreement. that someone has to agree that hezbollah has to agree that hezbollah has to agree that hezbollah has to agree that they are going to pull out in the that stage, then israel would need to stop as well and so i think what they are doing is getting rid of this infrastructure before that point before that ceasefire is broken. figs that point before that ceasefire is broken. as you've been speaking, _ ceasefire is broken. as you've been speaking, we're - ceasefire is broken. as you've been speaking, we're looking| ceasefire is broken. as you've l been speaking, we're looking at some live pictures of beirut, we will be seeing the explosion in the back of the screen there to left—hand side and we don't know what that is showing us just yet but we know that we have heard from a corresponding anna foster that there were strikes as well in southern lebanon and just hearing that is a picture from earlier so that could be what we have been witnessing byjust a follow—up on something you said that lebanon, when the israeli forces were charging into south lebanon into thousand and six and since then, what happened, what has changed since that, do we know where hezbollah stands, its forces have been impacted by what we've seen over the

last two weeks but was changed for israel as well?— for israel as well? both sides have changed _ for israel as well? both sides have changed massively, - for israel as well? both sides l have changed massively, 2006 was not the israeli defense forces finest moment, it had made very costly mistakes when it invaded southern lebanon but i think also been learning from that experience and they spent a lot of a lot of time building infrastructure, those tunnels that i refer to the hand with hand—held machines that we used to grind through the granite and possibly slower rate but still they manage hundreds of tunnels, these is fan tunnels that are under the gaza subsoil, these are properly built inside but what's changed with hezbollah is that they've become bigger, they've become much betterfunded and much better funded and equipped, they've also had a decade of combat experience

inside syria, fighting a behalf of the president and as such, before this conflict began, they were having a formidable fighting force and much more professionalised, much more dangerous than the hamas forces at the israeli military have been confronting for the last 11.5 months and so from that point of view, it became a real red flag for the risk changed in the mind of israel's politicians and its military and i think what's happened, the first part of its year—long conflict was that israel was in not content but will satisfy to respond to those rocket launchers that began that hezbollah decided to attack israel. and they were satisfied to respond to those and there has been in equilibria for most of this year. and last month, israel decided that it had

enough and it operation in gaza subsided that they had enough military capacity and as we saw in the last two months, two weeks, sorry, a devastated military onslaught on hezbollah.— military onslaught on hezbollah. �* ., ., ., hezbollah. and now a ground operation _ hezbollah. and now a ground operation as _ hezbollah. and now a ground operation as we _ hezbollah. and now a ground operation as we said - hezbollah. and now a ground operation as we said under i hezbollah. and now a ground i operation as we said under way. thank you so much, stay there, we will come back to you in a little bit to talk more as well but we want to talk about the prospect of a diplomatic solution that early on monday, presidentjoe biden maintained his call for an end to fighting that was echoed by the us department of defence, the deputy pentagon saying that they spoke to the bbcjust before the incursion began in the us still believes in a political solution to and fighting. political solution to and fighting-— political solution to and fiuuhtin. ~ ., , , fighting. we know the best way to net fighting. we know the best way to get people — fighting. we know the best way to get people back— fighting. we know the best way to get people back into - fighting. we know the best way to get people back into their. to get people back into their homes both in israel and lebanon is going to be through diplomatic means. and we continue, of course, whenever we engage with israeli counterpart, secretary always emphasises the need to protect civilians in the battle that's something that comes up frequently on their corso, we

will continue to emphasise that and continue to have the cause with minister galante and with minister gala nte and nitrous with minister galante and nitrous you in the building but in agencies and they are engaged with the counterparts and continue to push for our diplomat solution. we and continue to push for our diplomat solution.— and continue to push for our diplomat solution. we can speak to the us national _ diplomat solution. we can speak to the us national security - to the us national security council and the fbi national counterterrorism, always good to have you here on bbc news. i'll ask you about that the permitted solution and a second but i want to ask you how pivotal and dangerous you think this moment is as we heard from the idf that they are starting a ground operation. mice the idf that they are starting a ground operation.- the idf that they are starting a ground operation. nice to be with ou a ground operation. nice to be with you and — a ground operation. nice to be with you and picking _ a ground operation. nice to be with you and picking up - a ground operation. nice to be with you and picking up on - with you and picking up on points in the previous segments the past few minutes, i agree, this is entering into a very dangerous and volatile moment of the israeli campaign and drawing on the lessons of 2006 that when that 3a day war was effectively a stalemate that one would think that hezbollah has been waiting for this

moment and despite the heavy pressure that israel has applied from the air of the past two weeks and the unconventional warfare, they are still a fighting force so how will this ground incursion unfolds in the coming days, it'll be interesting to see if the idf incorporates the lessons of 2006 and how has adapted in anticipation of the idf incursion but i expect it to also be bloodied, violin, resemble a lot of that is happening already with the idf against hamas and drawing on the lessons of 2006 as well. interesting point you're making. let's talk about the us as well and all others because we saw president biden, the white house saying that they welcomed in a way that the strike that killed her son mistral, calling it a measure ofjustice. , at the same time, they say they want to fighting

to stop, how do you read what exactly at the us actually saying? — make her son mistral. based on the statement that came out from president biden about hassan nasrallah, that in about hassan nasrallah, that in a way was to signal that prior to 9/11 and the threat from al-qaeda, hezbollah had the blood of americans on their hand. and responsible for the death and murder of almost 300 americans through variety of different attacks to include the major bombing of the marine barracks and beirut in 1983 so no tears shed for the white house for hassan nasrallah but the diplomatic aspect there is also apparently going back to last week about potential ceasefire proposal that had been at least in some draft or some measure would go between the us and france and when it came to prime minister netanyahu last friday, nothing materialised and the president

was not in favour of that and the idf has continued to have the idf has continued to have the campaign so i don't think the campaign so i don't think the ceasefire in the works anytime soon, both israel and hezbollah are going to continue fighting and for the last couple of weeks, i don't think hezbollah has managed to exact its revenge or have the kind of rotella toadie response i would make hezbollah feel like they would want to have a ceasefire so that's why i think we will see a lot more violence and a lot more bloodshed in the days ahead. ,, ., , ., , ahead. our state department was sa in: that ahead. our state department was saying that what _ ahead. our state department was saying that what we _ ahead. our state department was saying that what we saw - ahead. our state department was saying that what we saw at - ahead. our state department was saying that what we saw at the i saying that what we saw at the un in new york and in the past few days has been a sign of the us's failure to be able to create some sort of diplomatic ram but would you agree with that assessment? i’m ram but would you agree with that assessment?— ram but would you agree with that assessment? i'm not sure if it's a failure, _ that assessment? i'm not sure if it's a failure, it _ that assessment? i'm not sure if it's a failure, it shows - that assessment? i'm not sure if it's a failure, it shows the i if it's a failure, it shows the limitations of diplomacy, not from the us but france and other countries in the region and in europe and that there's only so much diplomat pressure

that can be applied to israel and a group like hezbollah when there doesn't seem to be any real effort to scale back the fighting and until on both the hezbollah and the israel side that they have some measure of progress in this compact and the fight, diplomacy for the most part is going to be sidelined so it's always good to have this diplomatic efforts and to have these lines of communication but my sense of the conflict between israel and hezbollah, this is qualitative different than anything in the history of that conflict for a0 years, the fighting will continue for quite a long period of time.— continue for quite a long period of time. great to get our period of time. great to get your inside _ period of time. great to get your inside as _ period of time. great to get your inside as things - period of time. great to get your inside as things are i your inside as things are moving on the ground as we said, thank you forjoining us tonight. said, thank you for “oining us toniaht. ., ~ said, thank you for “oining us toniaht. . ~ ,, said, thank you for “oining us tonightdlet's - said, thank you for “oining us tonightdlet's go | tonight. thank you. let's go back to anna _ tonight. thank you. let's go back to anna foster, - tonight. thank you. let's go back to anna foster, thank l tonight. thank you. let's go i back to anna foster, thank you for holding on for us, we know that things are moving quickly on the ground there, i want to get your take on what we've been discussing in the last few

minutes, as we spoke to each other last week, as i was in new york and you are in lebanon, united that what you are witnessing on the ground, they are so different in tone and in reality the discussion on the diplomatic front. tell us more about that?- on the diplomatic front. tell us more about that? you really feel that sort _ us more about that? you really feel that sort of _ us more about that? you really feel that sort of disconnect - feel that sort of disconnect between the momentum of what's happening here and the messages that you were talking about at the un general assembly a few days ago. i think one notable example was the day that the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu made his address and was a very powerful address that he made, he said that he wasn't planning to go there and speak but that he wanted to correct lies that have been told at the podium but it was really interesting, i remember him using this line, israel wants peace and when you subsequently later that evening that at the same time, israel was planning this really sophisticated and large—scale sophisticated and la rge—scale operation sophisticated and large—scale operation to kill the leader of

hezbollah hassan nasrallah. now, we know that the us had been talking again in the hours and couple of days before that where the various parties including israel about trying to have some sort of 21 days ceasefire, it feels like such a contrast, so far away from a were talking about now which is a new israeli ground operation inside lab and onto think that matter of days ago, when we went to sleep in the middle east, those messages were coming out of the us say that we think we can get a ceasefire, with a good get them to stop for 21 days and talk and just very quickly, when we wake up you, that of cards started collapse gradually as a day when on. you still hear the messages, deescalation, ceasefire, but how will they actually achieve that? they need to get both sides indirectly around the table. when it comes 11 on sides of

things, they are not negotiating here what the lebanese state because hezbollah, while incredibly powerful military and political organisation, it has an peace in the lebanese state stop and so, it's a different type of negotiation, notably, 11 on caretaker prime minister had said that he put forward some sort of suggestion that may be the lebanese armed forces could actually move has blood north of the river but that's what they were supposed to be doing for years and they haven't. they haven't been accompanied ijy they haven't been accompanied by the un peacekeepers from unit fill, that's what that was supposed to do. and that's part of the problem here and why israel said it needs to carry out this military operation to actually protect its northern border and support that buffer zone that we should have been there back in place but again, as the momentum has picked up, as the momentum has picked up, as a situation here on the

ground is changed, it's becoming increasingly difficult to see how they can grow back on that but actually what you were hewn from the bureau chief a few minutes ago is that a really crucial point, he was saying that they need to and they will at some point come to a negotiated settlement as they did in 2006, israel clearly wants to take this moment wants very much on the front foot do as much as it can to ensure and preserve its future security from those armed groups like hezbollah here in lebanon. when that negotiated _ hezbollah here in lebanon. when that negotiated settlement - hezbollah here in lebanon. when that negotiated settlement will be reached, it's a question because as you said, the conflict appears to be so hot right now. remind us a bit of the situation there in beirut because we know israel sent a fresh warning a few hours ago for residents in the southern suburbs and then there were strikes that you heard as well so bring us up—to—date on what you witness. so bring us up-to-date on what you witness-— you witness. they have been really daily — you witness. they have been

really daily strikes _ you witness. they have been really daily strikes year - you witness. they have been really daily strikes year in i really daily strikes year in beirut, in the southern suburbs so if you think of the city, it's broken down into different districts, different sectarian areas and you have this part of the southern suburbs of beirut which is called dahieh, pretty close to that international airport in beirut, it's this has pull a stronghold and that is where many of hezbollah's top commanders and leadership was sore on friday, that large—scale israeli operation, that huge sort of series of bunker buster missiles that they use, bombs and the drop to actually get the hezbollah's headquarters underneath the civilian area, they killed hassan nasrallah, hezbollah leader, they killed many of the top leadership but even so, you still, as you were saying, get this warning so we have them a couple of hours ago, so that they were going to be more airstrikes and may be about the half hour later and again,

there was about the this evening when we heard and we were expecting them but we heard those airstrikes again in the southern suburbs and when it happened, this is a buildup city, you can see behind me in part, the big tall buildings and you can hear the sounds of those explosions, those missiles sitting, itjust echoes right across the city, notjust echoes right across the city, not just the echoes right across the city, notjust the northern suburbs, you can hear it everywhere and that's why so many people are displeased and fearful on the streets. , ., displeased and fearful on the streets. , . ., , displeased and fearful on the streets. , . ., ., streets. great as always to talk to you. _ streets. great as always to talk to you, thank - streets. great as always to talk to you, thank you - streets. great as always to talk to you, thank you so l streets. great as always to - talk to you, thank you so much for keeping us up—to—date. just a reminder, we have received confirmation that israel has now sent troops into lebanon to target hezbollah in order that israel, as we mentioned, sent a fresh warning to beirut, wanted people to evacuate a few hours ago and as we heard from anna, though strikes there so stay with us you are bbc news and i want to chicken out with steve, my stop thank you very much,

i'll pick things up from our singapore students with newsday at our new hours, today will be looking to continue coverage as you can imagine with this escalating event in the middle east with israel starting what it calls a limited localised targeted ground operations against hezbollah in southern lebanon. , ., ., against hezbollah in southern lebanon. ., �* , ,, lebanon. join me for business today and _ lebanon. join me for business today and i — lebanon. join me for business today and i was _ lebanon. join me for business today and i was a _ lebanon. join me for business today and i was a day, - lebanon. join me for business today and i was a day, i'll - lebanon. join me for business today and i was a day, i'll be l today and i was a day, i'll be talking about the economic about japan as he talking about the economic aboutjapan as he said a date aboutjapan as he said a date about the snap election. hello there. well, as we start off october, things are looking a little drier for a couple of days, but it has been a very wet september across the southern half of the uk. in fact, some spots towards the south of england have seen three or four times the average september rainfall. and it's notjust been the wettest september on record for some places, it's also been the wettest month on record. there's been more flooding in didcot in oxfordshire here on monday, more flood warnings in force as we head through the rest of the night, mostly for central and north—western areas of england, where we're seeing the heaviest of the downpours.

but that low has now pulled out into the north sea. still strong, gusty winds for these north sea—facing coasts, some more rain gradually sinking further southwards and eastwards across central—southern england. but some clear skies out towards the north and the west, so, here, a locally chilly start to the day on tuesday. now, on tuesday, that low is still bringing some more cloud and some rainjust swirling around it. some of that rain could push a little further westwards at times, it will be lighter than on monday, of course, and we've still got that brisk north—easterly wind across coastal areas of yorkshire, lincolnshire and down through northern areas of norfolk too. the best of the sunshine out towards the west, for much of scotland, into northern ireland, western wales and south west england. and here, we could see temperatures rise to around 16 or 17 celsius. and then on wednesday, well, high pressure starts to edge down from the north, so we're all going to be seeing that dry, sunnier—feeling weather as we head through wednesday and thursday. but it's going to take a while, i think, still for that low to clear across south east england, east anglia. still some showers here and a bit more in the way of cloud. some of the showers blowing a little further westwards at times, but lots of sunshine further north and west, some areas of cloud at times. chance of one or two isolated showers, but temperatures 15

to 17 celsius in the best of the brightness. and on thursday, it's going to be a locally chilly start to the day. a touch of frost, perhaps, in the north, a bit of mist around with those lighter winds, but for the vast majority of us, a dry day with plenty of sunshine. cloud developing here and there, and temperatures have now returned to the seasonal average, so 1a to 17 degrees north to south. on friday, we start to see more cloud edging from the north and the west. the best of the sunshine further south and east. and over the weekend, well, we've got rain pushing eastwards again. bye—bye for now.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. hi. please come into my lair, my library. what a library to have. what an appropriate place. hi, i'm katie. hello. gillian anderson has made a career playing powerful and interesting women... grit, good sense and determination... ..infilm, tv,

and in the theatre. she found fame aged just 2a as dana scully in the x—files... agent mulder: isn't it nice to be suddenly - so highly regarded? ..before completely changing direction for her next role as lady dedlock in the bbc�*s bleak house and miss havisham in great expectations. more recently she has played real—life characters, the former british prime minister margaret thatcher in the crown and the journalist emily maitlis in scoop, the dramatisation of "that interview" with prince andrew. this is about honesty. do you want to have a seat? but it is her role as sex therapistjean milburn in the netflix series sex education that has led her to her latest project. she has been curating a book all about women's sexual fantasies. agent scully: did i you bother to read it? agent mulder: i did - i liked it. _ i guess my number one fantasy is to feel i am utterly desired.

you seem fairly comfortable talking about sex. i am very comfortable with it.