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creates a trust to keep the craft alive. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your passions and the way you enrich your community. life well planned. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" s america. s fears of escalation in the middle east as the hezbollah leader calls the recent deadly attacks in lebanon a declaration of war. as the uncommitted movement to endorse kamala harris, we talk about how the war in the middle

east impacts their choice. in a town in ohio has been impacted by heated political rhetoric. ♪ a very warm welcome to world news america. the leader of hezbollah thursday described two waves of deadly attacks across lebanon using explosives in pagers and walkie-talkies as "a declaration of war." in a televised address he said israel crossed all redlines after at least 37 people were killed and thousands injured in a surprise -- in surprise attacks tuesday and wednesday across lebanon. he vowed people who had evacuated their homes would not be able to return unless israel ends its attacks in gaza. israel confirmed his fighter jets launched targets on at least 30 targets in southern lebanon. the white house expressed great

concern about the growing tensions. antony blinken called for all parties to de-escalate. >> france and the united states already united in calling for restraint and urging de-escalation when it comes to the middle east in general and lebanon in particular. we continue to work to get a cease-fire for gaza over the finish line and as we discussed with some of you a day ago, in egypt, we believe that remains possible and necessary. meanwhile, we don't want to see escalatory actions by any party that will make it more difficult. anchor: the israeli military chief signaled its military would not stop attacks on lebanon anytime soon. the defense minister says recent attacks are part of an effort to degrade the has a lot military capabilities after what he called decades of aggression. >> this is a new phase of the

war. it bears opportunities but also significant risks. hezbollah feels it's being persecuted and a sequence of military action will continue. our goal is to ensure the safe return of israel's northern communities to their homes. as time goes by, has low will pay an increasing -- hezbollah will pay in increasing price. anchor: we have the latest from beirut. reporter: israeli fighter planes flying low over beirut this afternoon, dominating the skies, carefully timed. there was a televised address. he admitted hezbollah has suffered a major blow and said the enemy, israel, had crossed all redlines with attacks this week.

first it was pagers exploding. then yesterday, walkie-talkies blowing up at funerals. a new form of warfare in the middle east which the eu says has caused heavy collateral damage among civilians. hezbollah's communication systems may have been the target but a lebanese minister told us the attacks, widely blamed on israel, rake international law. are you saying these are a war crime? >> i think they are. i think the whole world could see these attacks occurred in markets, they occurred in hospitals, they occurred by people driving their cars. these were not people at the battleground fighting. reporter: in its stronghold in south beirut, hezbollah is still

morning instead killed on and off the battlefield. they are getting ready for the funeral of another fighter. hezbollah has been hit hard this week, not just in terms of the dead and wounded but the attack on its communication systems was a major humiliation. there is anchor here and uncertainty. many are wondering what might come next. this woman said we can expect anything from israel but we are prepared both men and women. as for the wounded, she said we pray god will heal them. i would donate my own eyes for all of those who lost affairs -- lost theirs. hezbollah, classed as a terrorist organization by the u.k. and u.s., will regroup. despite the high-tech,

high-profile attacks this week, it is still firing across the border into israel. nine times so far today. anchor: for analysis of the situation, i spoke to a middle east expert and fellow at the center for strategic and international studies who focuses on hezbollah. i asked if the latest events mark the start of a full-blown war between israel and hezbollah. >> the reality is that the israelis and haslett have been in an escalating cycle of conflict for more than 11 months. the challenge both sides have is on the one hand, hezbollah is fundamentally deterred in terms of its strategic ability to significantly escalate and trigger a wider war and the israelis have been steadily increasing their own attacks but have not secured a modicum of progress when it comes to

returning israelis back to northern israel. you have this stalemate of attrition and a cycle of escalation and counter escalation. but what a wider war would ultimately look like short of a conflict spanning from the shoreline to hormuz is anyone's guess. anchor: how different would a full-blown conflict here look like for the israeli military, if you combine -- if you compare it with the military operations in gaza? >> we are looking at magnitudes of difference, in terms of the kinds of war care -- warfare required into the risk mitigation that comes with competing with and fighting on the ground when it comes to hezbollah versus hamas or hamas aligned groups. you're looking at a force in lebanon with a far larger reserve structure that is broadly intact even though the incident with the pagers and communication devices is

tactically embarrassing for hezbollah, it's unclear what the organizational chain of command looks like, what the tactics look like and frankly if anyone is looking at gaza or the last round of fighting in 2006 in terms of a wider, it would be limited in terms of what it says about a future conflict. both sides have been arming for war for at least 15, 16 years and it's a poor benchmark to look at 2006 or gaza as a reliable comparison. it would be a far more costly and complicated conflict if it doesn't strategically escalate. anchor: just to be clear, as you look at hezbollah, it's a far better supplied group than hamas, isn't it? >> they have far more strategic depth as far back as iran and they have supply lines that remain broadly intact but contested on a daily basis.

they've been firing rockets as well broadly on a daily basis and between those rounds of fires plus interruptions by the israelis, there's been quite a bit of expensing of their arsenal. we are not talking about anything on the order of 50 or 60,000, they are rumored are estimated to have north of 120, 100 80,000 -- 130,000. but they are firing on a tempo that far exceeds anything from the last 15 years. the israeli have adapted in-depth, whether it is lebanon or syria as far as iraq. we are already in the theater conflict. it just hasn't escalated to the point it is a strategic enough to involve the united states or iran directly. anchor: i want to ask about these device attacks because we've seen reuters reporting the lebanese mission to the united

nations found lebanese authorities found exploding devices were detonated by electronic messages. what we know about that and how disruptive these have been to hezbollah? >> this shouldn't be a surprise in terms of tradecraft, the israelis and others in the region have made it their business to interdict and penetrate adversarial groups and undermine strategic and tactical command and control. it certainly embarrassing for haslett and i think that embarrassment runs deep because in a sense it adds to the insult of the attack against -- in beirut months ago. which in the minds eye of many supporters of hezbollah which has not elicited a sufficient response from the israelis put what does it do in terms of their command? we have no way of estimating

whether line commanders or major unit commanders have been affected or impacted by this. we can only glean so much from social media or looking at social ovens like funerals or the level of traffic at hospitals. yes, there have been thousands of wounded, yes there are people who in the likelihood will be a burden to the group and wider society indefinitely, but that doesn't tell us just how much of their command and control has been impacted at the tactical level, we just don't have a clear estimate. anchor: you mentioned france and the u.s. are calling for restraint. at the same time, do you think there is likelihood we could see any progress toward a cease-fire agreement, which the u.s. says would lower the temperature? >> part of the challenge in all of this is in past instances we looked at hezbollah and iranians as the ultimate wildcards. in the sense the israelis have become a wildcard in their own

right. they have pressures combined with assumptions or contested views on what it means to do any of this in a very divisive u.s. electoral cycle only complicate the picture. anchor: the conflict in the middle east remains a key issue in the u.s. presidential election. the uncommitted movement, a group of voters opposed to the current u.s. policy on the war in gaza has declined to support democratic presidential nominee, harris, they said it was due to her unwillingness to shift on unconditional weapons policy. they said they also oppose a donald trump presidency whose agenda includes plans to accelerate killing in gaza while intensifying the suppression of antiwar organizing. the uncommitted movement advised supporters to not vote for a swing state -- for a third-party

candidate in swing states because it could help promote a trump victory. there are more than 211,000 arab americans in michigan, the second-highest highest number in the u.s. behind california. we can speak now to my colleague, she's on the ground in michigan and has been speaking to voters all day. tell us what you've been hearing on the ground. reporter: you are very welcome to saginaw, michigan, a swing city in a swing county in a swing state, the battleground state of michigan, where the polls have shown donald trump and kamala harris really close, currently she is leading in the margin of error. this is a dead heat tossup state. as you drive around, one house will have a harris sign into the

next a trump side. you are talking about the arab-american and muslim american population and we've been in dearborn as well outside of detroit and top of agenda for all of the voters we spoke to in addition to economy and immigration, housing, things that are common to most voters, the war in gaza and u.s. support for israel was top of the agenda. i was here in april and it spoke to a number of voters undecided about their level of support who wanted to back it democrats but were hesitant. that position and the people we spoke to has changed in the last few months. there's anger, upset and disappointment that their taxpayer money is going toward u.s. defense policy that involves arming israel, which they said was using those weapons against their family members in the middle east. we can hear now from a doctor who told me how she feels. >> the muslim and arab community

is not a monolith. i think a lot of the folks are not going to want to vote for kamala because of her policies. and her refusing to call for an arms embargo and permanent cease-fire. at the end of the day she is part of this administration, who is funding, aiding and abetting a genocide. as the vice president she has some impact on what's going on. it's not very promising to us that she is running for president without, you know, changing any of the policies. i don't think it is winning her any votes that she's not cooperating with us. reporter: the views of the

arab-american community could be key in deciding the state when you see how close it was in 2020, joe biden winning by just over 1%, and here in saginaw only 300 voters separated biden and trump in 2020 to give you an idea of how close it is. let's hear from one of the voters in saginaw. thank you for joining us. how are you feeling ahead of the election. what issues are helping you make up your mind? >> the issues that are pushing my voting perspective is women's rights, trans rights, lgbtq rights. you were talking about the atrocities in gaza and that is a huge motivation for me to vote for harris and walz without question. reporter: in terms of life in saga -- saginaw, there are a lot of boarded up businesses and derelict properties, is that something you are concerned

about, jobs and housing? >> of course, i feel like the separation but between the upper classes and lower classes has never been further apart, especially in communities like saginaw. reporter: we have seen how close the community is in terms for support for harris and trump. can you have a discussion and discuss the pros and cons of each candidate? >> in terms of trump there aren't a lot of pros in my opinion. harris and walz, going back on women's rights i can't justify. pros all harris, cons all trump. reporter: you're getting a lot of attention from all of the candidates. they've all been here in the past week. is that normally what you see and what you are used to as voters here? >> i assume so. i feel like both candidates have

made trips to michigan a couple of times in the past, especially swing areas like this, trying to pull the voters one way or another. reporter: do they follow up with that after the elections? >> i believe harris does, she continues to speak on it and i like to see her follow-up and continue to talk about the flint water crisis and things along those lines, that's important to me. reporter: thank you for speaking to me. >> of course. reporter: lovely to meet you. we seen a range of viewpoints in saginaw and flint and dearborn and detroit and one thing is clear as we've known for a while, this is going to be a close race and we will keep an eye on it for the next few weeks. anchor: thank you so much for that on the ground in michigan, great to speak to you. donald trump says he plans to make a campaign visit to the city of springfield, ohio after he falsely claimed at last week's presidential debate that haitian immigrants living there are eating pet cats and dogs.

springfield residents told bbc they are worried about far-right activists gathering in the city as they try to cope with the impact of the unfounded remarks. our editor has this report from springfield. reporter: on the menu today, it is the first to, as some of spain fields haitian population lineup for a free meal along with other hungry residents. the haitians have been the target about -- of completely false stories about eating pet as donald trump moves his anti-immigration campaign right into the heart of the united states. over 60 million viewers heard donald trump repeat a baseless rumor about animals being stolen. >> in springfield they are eating the dogs, the people that came in, they are eating the cats. they are eating the pets of the people that live there. reporter: the consequences for springfield has been far-right

white supremacists cowboys marching through streets and schools and hospitals targeted with bomb threats, spreading fear through the city. >> everything he says is a new firestorm. reporter: this haitian man feels so intimidated he doesn't want his face to be shown as he describes his life in springfield now. >> i'm scared to go out with my kids because i don't want them to be victims if someone decides to attack me suddenly. i feel unsafe literally everywhere, at home, on the street and especially when i met with my kids. reporter: many of the haitian arrivals need help with translation into a huge influx of up to 20,000 migrants in one small city has caused tensions and strain resources could the city says it needs more money to assimilate people fleeing from gang warfare. >> according to jesus, the kingdom of heaven is for people who welcome immigrants. reporter: this pastor is preaching love and understanding via facebook posts. >> i can't imagine being forced

to leave my country by the type of violence that happening in haiti and then come to a place like ohio and experience the kinds of things they are experiencing -- it breaks my heart. reporter: most of springfield patient residents are here legally but donald trump is still threatening mass deportations. donald trump is being mocked by his opponents for spreading untrue stories about the fate of pets in springfield. at the same time he's focused attention on immigration, his signature issue and while he may be spreading fake news, at the same time he is convincing some voters they are in danger from the migrants living in tens of cities across america. >> i'm going to springfield and i'm going to aurora. you may never see me again but that's ok, i gotta do what i gotta do. reporter: fear travels fast and americans are already worried about immigration. most trump voters don't really believe the tales of pets the

eaton and will overlook his gross exaggerations if they feel someone is listening to their concerns. anchor: let's take a look now at some other headlines from around the world. a court in brazil on thursday fined x nearly $9 million, accusing it up -- of circumventing a band. lawyers said technical issues allowed some users to access the app on wednesday. x is now off-line in brazil because he refused to remove far-right accounts accused of spreading disinformation. the titan submersible that imploded on the way to the titanic wreck malfunctioned days before the voyage that left five people dead. in the fourth day of hearings on the implosion, a former science director for the company that owns the submersible said the malfunction caused passengers to tumble and hang upside down. he said he didn't know if the titan was inspected after that incident.

the nato secretary general delivered his farewell speech as he prepares to depart the post at the end of the month. he will be replaced by the former dutch prime minister. in a formal address he warned against u.s. isolationism and warned that nato's current military spinning is not enough to protect the alliance against russia. north korea successfully testfired a strategic cruise missile into new ballistic missile overnight, carrying what has been described as a super large warhead according to the official state news agency there. the launch is the latest of dozens of test wrecks this year. some experts say it could be linked to the alleged supply of weapons to use in its war against ukraine. finally, conservationists in new zealand have gone to extraordinary lengths to free a whale that had become trapped under a pier by dismantling the construction to set the whale free. this is the pygmy blue whale, which had swum under the private

wharf and was unable to free itself. when it's plight became public, rescue teams were brought in and the decision was made to take the p apart piece by piece until the whale could swim away. experts said it suffered a little distressed during the operation that was eventually able to return to the open seas none the worse for the experience. the conservation group says they will replace the pier, leaving it as it was before the whale was lodged under it, but with extra protections to stop anything like this from happening again. a reminder of our top story at this hour, the attacks on has blood targets in lebanon attributed to israel. the hezbollah leader saying this is a declaration of war. a lot of concern about escalation. you can see our live page covering the latest development on the ground. these excluding device attacks have been seen as a major escalation and world leaders are expressing concern about tensions in the region, both the

u.s. and france calling for calm. for more, headed to bbc.com/news. and to see what we are working on anytime. check us out on your favorite social media site and we will have the latest headlines always on bbc news for you. thank you so much for watching and make sure to stay with bbc news. announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: "usa today" calls it,

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amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the “news hour” tonight, the leader of hezbollah says israel crossed a red line and vows retribution for the exploding pagers and walkie talkies that killed some of its members. amna: the teamsters labor union decides no e