hugo bachega is in . thank you. hugo bachega is in beirut.e the city skyline of beirut with smoke rising. what has been happening in in the last few hours?— last few hours? another night of heavy lsraeli _ last few hours? another night of heavy israeli air _ last few hours? another night of heavy israeli air strikes - last few hours? another night of heavy israeli air strikes hitting . heavy israeli air strikes hitting beirut. the target was dahieh, the hezbollah base in the capital. it came after warnings by the israeli military, evacuation orders telling residents to leave some parts of dahieh who lives near buildings that the israeli military says being used ljy the israeli military says being used by hezbollah. some of the warnings came at three o'clock, four o'clock in the morning and people will have been sleeping when the warnings were issued. we haven't had reports yet about casualties from those attacks, but another night of heavy israeli air strikes targeting the capital. and in the south of the country, the israeli military sending

hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut. conflict here in the middle east later in the programme, but first we are going to go on to other news. sue gray has resigned as the prime minister's chief of staff, saying she risked becoming a distraction. the former civil servant had been caught up in rows about her salary, and controversy surrounding donations made to sir keir starmer and members of the cabinet. downing street says she will take up a new role as the prime minister's envoy for nations and regions. the conservatives said her resignation showed the government is in chaos. our political editor chris mason has the story by the prime minister's side — until today, at least. sue gray was at the top table. here she was at the white house last month. now she's gone as sir keir starmer�*s chief of staff, after weeks of her colleagues saying she was too powerful and not up to the job, and willing to leak confidential information about her. she earns £170,000 a year but that figure matters less than how i found out about it,

hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut.ow is ray murphy, a professor at the irish centre for human rights at the university of galway. he also served with the irish contingent of uni—fil in lebanon in the 19805. prof murphy, you will have been following the situation at the un peacekeeper base in southern lebanon. how significant of an escalation do you think this is? it's hard to characterise but the overall evidence indicates that israeli forces are deliberately targeting un posts and reckless to the safety of the un personnel and i would remind viewers that un forces have been present in south lebanon since 1978. the mandate change significantly in 2006 and the mission was envisaged to be something between peacekeeping and enforcement but these are there in the peacekeeping role and it's really important to emphasise that as such, all the peacekeepers are protected persons under international humanitarian law and all of them are protected objects and they may not be attacked under any circumstances. i think that the isra

let us turn to our correspondent hugo bachega in beirut.rikes in lebanon on wednesday.— israel big strikes in lebanon on wednesday. israel big strikes in lebanon onwednesda. . ., ., ., on wednesday. yeah, and one of the attacks _ on wednesday. yeah, and one of the attacks hit _ on wednesday. yeah, and one of the attacks hit the _ on wednesday. yeah, and one of the attacks hit the government i the attacks hit the government building killing 16 people including the mayor and it was the first time a government building was hit and destroyed by an israeli air strike in this conflict. this morning there is a lot of anger, there was an angry statement yesterday by the prime minister who essentially accused israel of deliberately targeting this building where a meeting was taking place with local authorities to try to discuss the response, local response, to the israeli air strikes. the response,

hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut.strikes hit close to the city's airport. it is just becoming the norm here that lebanese do not sleep at night because of the loud sound of israeli air strikes here in beirut and on dahieh neighbourhood in the south of the city, hezbollah stronghold area. last night was particularly hard because it was very much close to the airport, the functioning airport, the functioning airport that is evacuating many people, many lebanese and internationals leaving, so there were concerns something could disrupt any traffic of the airport. the explosions are heard over the city. in the south, there are air strikes continuing and more warnings coming from the israeli side for towns and villages to be evacuated. but also across the border with syria, the crossing border with syria, the crossing border of masnaa was also targeted and we are hearing reports it is not functioning and we remind our audience but over the past week some 100,000 lebanese, some syrians, they are reported to have crossed the

hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut.ensive continues in gaza — its forces have struck what they say are hamas targets in the north. in the al—shati region — five young boys were reportedly killed by the strikes while they were playing on a street corner. a bbc correspondent was told seven others were injured in the attack. the israeli military has not yet commented on the incident. the idf is looking into a separate report — that an israeli strike on a school used to shelter displaced palestinians killed at least 13 people. officials say the site in central gaza was struck by a barrage of artillery, killing families and wounding 50 people. for more of the us deploying high altitude anti—missile system and a us military crew to israel to help bolster its air defences after a missile attack from iran earlier this month. i was joined now by aaron david miller, seniorfellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace. i think it's a contingency based on the administration's view, and probably israelis as well, that whe

hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut.f has resigned from the post, saying she risked becoming a distraction. sue gray's resignation follows rows about her salary, and controversy surrounding donations to the uk prime minister and members of the cabinet. downing street says she will take up a new role as the pm's envoy for nations and regions. the conservatives said her resignation showed the government is in chaos. here's our political editor, chris mason by the prime minister's side until today, at least. sue gray was at the top table. here she was at the white house last month. now she has gone as the chief of staff, after weeks of her colleagues saying she was too powerful and not up to thejob. and willing to leak confidential information about her. she earns £170,000 a year but that figure matters less than about how i found out about it. and that is down to rows in government about her role. some within government thought the leak was deeply unfair but the anger was real, an issue i put to the prime minister one week

hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut.ve continues in gaza — its forces have struck what they say are hamas targets in the north. in the al—shati region — five young boys were reportedly killed by the strikes while they were playing on a street corner. a bbc correspondent was told seven others were injured in the attack. the israeli military has not yet commented on the incident. joining me live now is matthew levitt, senior fellow at the washington insitute and former deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the us treasury department. he's also written extensively on hamas and hezbollah. matthew, we heard today that israeli tanks have pushed their way onto a un peacekeeping base in southern lebanon. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has called for the immediate withdrawal of peacekeepers. what s your take on the situation? thank you for having me. we are in the middle of a war which is a terrible place to be. but the uni-fil a terrible place to be. but the uni—fil peacekeepers are not going to

let us turn to our correspondent hugo bachega in beirut for us.n wednesday. yeah, one of the attacks hit the government building killing 16 people including the mayor and it was the first time a government building was hit and destroyed by an israeli air strike in the conflict. this morning a lot of anger here, an angry statement yesterday by the prime minister, najib mikati, who essentially accused israel of deliberately targeting this building where a meeting was taking place with local authorities to try to discuss the response, the local response, to the israeli air strikes. let me show you some of the front pages this morning. devastation and massacre. israel's scorched earth tactics, says this one. the french language newspaper says, israel blows up the south of the country. so, this gives you a sense of the reaction here this morning, angry reaction after what happened yesterday. the prime minister again criticising the international community for not putting pressure on israel to stop these attacks. he says there has not been any kind of m

our middle east correspondent hugo bachega has the latest.ther night in beirut and more israeli air strikes. war returns to this city. and this attack came with no warning. we went to inspect the damage — a residential building near the lebanese parliament. beirut appears increasingly under threat. this is where an emergency response group linked to hezbollah operated, now gone. "there were just emergency service workers. "this is the truth. "we only saw them helping people out," says mustafa, who lives on the tenth floor of the building hit. the damage in this building gives you a sense of the power of this attack. and they've been cleaning up the rubble here, but we can still see some surgical masks and gloves and bandages as well. and you can probably hear the sound of drones flying overhead. this is a densely populated district here in central beirut. hasan, who's a teacher, has lived in this neighbourhood for 2h years. "there was no hezbollah presence here, military "or civilian," he tells me. "hezbollah wasn't present here." these are s

hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut.identjoe biden said thursday that he does not believe an israeli attack on iran is imminent. but in an off—the—cuff remark, mr biden also said the us was "discussing" possible israeli strikes on iranian oil facilities. the cost of brent crude oil jumped 5% after he made that comment. we'll have more analysis on the soaring oil prices a little later on business today. meanwhile, next monday will mark one year since hamas and other palestinian armed groups attacked israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 200 people hostage. the attack sparked israel's ongoing military campaign in gaza, which has killed more than 40,000 palestinians. one of the most senior leaders of hamas — which is classified a terrorist organistaion by the uk, us and other governments — sat down with the bbc in a rare interview. he said the october 7 attack was justified, on the grounds that it brought the palestinian struggle back on to the international agenda. khalil al haya, the deputy chairman of t

hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut.a visit to beirut the un refugees chief, filippo grandi, warned of violations of international humanitarian law in the ongoing war in lebanon, and said he was disheartened by what he called the "paralysis of political action" to help secure a ceasefire. here, ijust... i was just briefed by who in particular about egregious violation of ihl in respect of health facilities in particular that have been impacted in various locations of lebanon. i would venture to say — although, you know, these things require proper investigations and assessments — but on face value, when civilian houses are destroyed and people have to flee, that's also affecting civilian infrastructure. so i would consider that that is not in line with the rules of war. in israel, people are also starting to commemorate the one—year anniversary of the hamas attacks on 7th october last year — where hamas gunmen attacked israel from gaza, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. our chief international correspon

hugo bachega in beirut, i think there is the sound night and day of the buzz of the drones where yout. you know, a city that is very much at the centre of this war, of this israeli campaign against hezbollah. overnight, more israeli air strikes, around a dozen air strikes, hitting dahieh, where hezbollah has a very strong presence here in beirut. we've seen footage from one of those locations hit with secondary explosions, suggesting that weapons and ammunition were being stored there in this place that was hit. and these air strikes have continued. we haven't seen any indication from the israeli military, from the israeli authorities, that these attacks are going to stop. the israelis feel that they have been extremely successful in degrading hezbollah, in hitting many of the group is '5 positions, infrastructure, and also by decimating its entire leadership. i think here the concern in lebanon is that this could be the beginning of a wider offensive by the israeli military, a long offensive by israel against hezbollah. we have seen that this morning, the israeli army announced that

hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut. not only at night. israel is not backing down in its war against hezbollah. and in beirut, there's no respite. hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut. let's discuss what this means for the region with a senior fellow on our politics. good to have you with us. we were talking about continued strikes in berwick today following that explosion last night, the idf saying it had issued evacuation orders but ijust wonder, speaking to your contacts there on the ground, however lebanese civilians feeling at the moment? feeling at the sorry ground, however lebanese civilians feeling at the sorry is yellow speaking —— sorry? speaking to targets, not lebanese targets in the sense they haven't hit highways and the airport and civilian infrastructure —— against has bell hezbollah target�*s, the scale is very different, this time it seems hezbollah targets are not only in areas like suburbs, they are all over the place, the missiles are also stored in different areas, we have seen strikes in areas... people

hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut.maso della longa, spokesperson for the international federation of red cross and red crescent societies — the world's largest humanitarian network. always good to speak to you, thank you for coming on the programme. we are approaching a milestone, one year of suffering, can you paint a picture of what your teams are seeing on the ground at this stage? seeing on the ground at this staue? , . ~ seeing on the ground at this staue? , ., ~ i. ., stage? yes, thank you for havin: stage? yes, thank you for having me _ stage? yes, thank you for having me today. - stage? yes, thank you for having me today. what i stage? yes, thank you for| having me today. what we stage? yes, thank you for - having me today. what we are seeing after 12 months of conflict is really a year of suffering. and suffering just increasing day after day, i would say, hour after hour. we are seeing humanitarian aid not entering enough in the gaza strip. people inside gaza having issues getting the basics — food, water, he

hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut.his story i've been speaking with professor ray murphy — who served with the irish contingent of unifil in lebanon in the 1980s. i'm sure that you will have been keenly following the situation at the un peacekeeping base in southern lebanon. how significant and accurate —— and escalation do you see the events of today as being? you see the events of today as bein: ? , ., you see the events of today as beinu? , ., ., ., being? the events of today are hard to characterise _ being? the events of today are hard to characterise as - being? the events of today are hard to characterise as yet - being? the events of today are hard to characterise as yet but| hard to characterise as yet but the overall evidence indicates that israel is — israeli forces, i deliberately targeting un force —— un posts and reckless to the safety of un personnel. i remind viewers that the un forces have been resident in south lebanon since 1978. the mandate changed significantly in 2006 and the mission was envisaged

hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut.to beirut — the united nation's refugee chief, filippo grandi, warned of violations of international humanitarian law in the ongoing war in lebanon, and said he was disheartened by what he called the "paralysis of political action" to help secure a ceasefire. here, i wasjust here, i was just briefed here, i wasjust briefed by —— about egregious violation in respect of health facilities in particular that have been impacted in various locations of lebanon. i would venture to say, although these things require proper investigations and assessments, but on face value, when civilian houses are destroyed and people have to flee, that is also affect in civilian infrastructure so i would consider that that is not in line with the rules of law. let's bring in thomas friedman — foreign affairs columnist at the new york times. he's written extensively about the middle east. you recently wrote that we may be about to enter the most dangerous moment in the history of the modern middle east. huge w

before we go live to beirut, i want to draw your attention to the screen you can see. —— hugo bachegaupreme leader ayatollah is due to lead friday prayers, the first time in five years, potentially quite a significant moment, we will bring you what is being set in tehran as the programme continues. let's speak to the bbc�*s lina sinjab who's in beirut. another difficult night, round up another difficult night, round up for us if you can the strikes that have been sent beirut�*s way and also lebanon in general. beirut's way and also lebanon in general-— in general. well, it is 'ust becomingi in general. well, it is 'ust becoming the i in general. well, it is 'ust becoming the norm h in general. well, it isjust becoming the norm here| in general. well, it isjust - becoming the norm here that the lebanese do not sleep at night because of this loud sound of israeli air strikes here in beirut and on dahieh neighbourhood in the south of the city, hezbollah stronghold area. last night was particularly hard because it was very much close to the airport, the functioning airport, the functionin

hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut.nwhile, many israeli communities close to the lebanese border have been sealed off, since israeli forces launched their land invasion on monday. the few remaining residents, many part of civil defence teams, want an end to hezbollah rocket attacks. lucy williamson has been to one of the villages along the frontier, and sent us this report. the communities along israel's northern border are now a closed military zone. the road in takes you through line of sight from hezbollah positions. israeli forces outnumber residents along this border many times over, fresh out of lebanon, or waiting to go in. we walked the last few metres to a vantage point in a near empty kibbutz. you can start to see the buildings we've taken out. buildings used by hezbollah lie broken. nearby, the town of bintjbeil, where israel's army said today it had killed hezbollah fighters. hezbollah has said it targeted soldiers just over that hill. we're now very close to the lebanese border. locals here tell us the firs

let's speak to our middle east correspondent hugo bachega, who is in beirut. through the latest israeli action in lebanon, and another large death toll overnight.- lebanon, and another large death toll overnight. yes, it was a very _ death toll overnight. yes, it was a very violent _ death toll overnight. yes, it was a very violent night - death toll overnight. yes, it was a very violent night of l was a very violent night of israeli air strikes in the east of the country in the beqaa valley, 16 areas were hit, and those attacks happened with no warning by the israeli military, there hasn't been reaction from the israeli army, explaining those attack, what was being targeted with those air strikes last night. but the lebanese health ministry say at least 60 people were killed including two children and images that have been posted on social media show widespread destruction in some of the areas, also fires that were sparked by those air strikes, and the head of the civil defence said that those air strikes happened at the same time last night, that residential

our middle east correspondent hugo bachega sent us this report.ther night in beirut and more israeli air strikes. war returns to this city. and this attack came with no warning. we went to inspect the damage. a residential building near the lebanese parliament. beirut appears increasingly under threat. this is where an emergency response group linked to hezbollah operated — now gone. "there were just emergency service workers. "this is the truth. "we only saw them helping people out," says mustafa, who lives on the tenth floor of the building hit. the damage in this building gives you a sense of the power of this attack, and they've been cleaning up the rubble here, but i can still see some surgical masks and gloves and bandages as well. and you can probably hear the sound of drones flying overhead. this is a densely populated district here in central beirut. hossein, a teacher, has lived in this neighbourhood for 2h years. there was no hezbollah present here, military or civilian, he tells me. hezbollah was not present here. these are some of the

hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut.. that explosion and those sounds the last few minutes here in beirut. meanwhile, many israeli communities close to the lebanese border have been sealed off since israeli forces launched their land invasion on monday. the few remaining residents, many part of civil defence teams, want an end to hezbollah rocket attacks. lucy williamson has been to one of the villages along the frontier and sent us this report. the communities along israel's northern border are now a closed military zone. the road in takes you through line of sight from hezbollah positions. israeli forces outnumber residents along this border many times over, fresh out of lebanon, or waiting to go in. we walked the last few metres to a vantage point in a near empty kibbutz. we start to see the buildings we've taken out. buildings used by hezbollah lie broken. nearby, the town of bintjbeil, where israel's army said today it had killed hezbollah fighters. hezbollah has said it targeted soldiers just over that hill. we're

thank you very much, hugo bachega in beirut and i much, hugo bachega in beirut and yolande knell injerusalemhigh pressure starts to edge down from the north so we will all see that dry, sunny weather through wednesday and thursday but it will take a while for that low to clear across south—east england and east anglia, still showers and more clouds. lots of sunshine further north and west, some areas of cloud at times, the chance of some isolated showers the temperature is 50 to 17 in the best of the brightness. on thursday it will be a locally chilly start, summed —— some frost in the north, mixed with lighter winds but for the vast majority a dry day with plenty of sunshine, cloud developing and temperatures returning to the seasonal average, 1a to 17 degrees north to south. on friday we start to see more cloud from the north and west, the best of the sunshine further south van de sanden over the weekend we have rain pushing eastwards. goodbye. pains live from london, this is bbc news. i'm karin giannone. welcome to special events in the middle east —— a special coverage of events in the m

gave us the latest. correspondent hugo bachega gave us the latest-— us the latest.om _ us the latest. free your country from hezbollah | us the latest. free your - country from hezbollah was the message — country from hezbollah was the message in english from the israeli — message in english from the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to the people of lebanon. as a former british intelligence chief said a few days— intelligence chief said a few days ago, many people here in lehanon — days ago, many people here in lebanon dislike hezbollah but they dislike israel more, so i don't — they dislike israel more, so i don't think this message will resonate here. there is a long history— resonate here. there is a long history of— resonate here. there is a long history of israeli violence here _ history of israeli violence here in— history of israeli violence here in lebanon so i don't think— here in lebanon so i don't think a _ here in lebanon so i don't think a lot of people are paying _ think a lot of people are paying attention to what the prime — paying attention

our middle east correspondent hugo bachega is in beirut. . hugo, good morning.ning. what has been the reaponse to _ . hugo, good morning. what has been the response to these _ . hugo, good morning. what has been the response to these latest _ the response to these latest attacks? a, ~ the response to these latest attacks? ~ ., attacks? morning. about the nabatieh attack, the israeli _ attacks? morning. about the nabatieh attack, the israeli military _ attacks? morning. about the nabatieh attack, the israeli military said - attacks? morning. about the nabatieh attack, the israeli military said it - attack, the israeli military said it had targeted infrastructure being used by hezbollah yesterday in that part of the country, it describes those sites as command centres and weapons storage facilities but it has not commented specifically about this attack on the local authority building, and it has not really explained why a functioning government building was considered to be a legitimate target. they probably knew the local authorities were still working in the bu

our middle east correspondent hugo bachega is in beirut. lordy, hugo. iwonderwhat lordy, hugo.has been to these latest attacks? —— good morning, hugo. there has been an angry reaction this morning. these are the front pages of the papers here. this is the main headline, massacre and nabatieh says this one, israel scorched earth tactics in nabatieh, says this one. the french language newspaper says, says this one. the french language newspapersays, israel says this one. the french language newspaper says, israel is blowing up the south. this is the first time that a government building was hit and destroyed by an israeli air strike in this conflict and the israeli military said it was targeting hezbollah infrastructure in nabatieh, describing those sites as command centres used by hezbollah weapon stories this facility. but they have not commented on this attack targeting the government building in nabatieh. it has not explained why a functioning government building was considered to be a legitimate target. it probably knew that local authorities were working there in this build

yolande knell, thank you. _ let'sjoin hugo bachega in beruit. the response from the authorities there? the prime minister here saying that this country is facing one of the most dangerous moments in its history. there is the fear here for days that an israeli invasion of the country was almost inevitable after days of warnings by the israeli authorities. we still don't have a clear picture of what is happening in the south, the extent of the israeli offensive, but the concern here is that this could mark the beginning of a wider offensive by israel against hezbollah. this is the powerful group supported by iran, often described as a state within a state here in lebanon. it enjoys significant support but also strong opposition. people in lebanon have been saying they fear hezbollah has been dragging the country into a conflict with israel that was not in the interest of the country. there is a lot of uncertainty about what happens next, uncertainty about how far the israeli military is planning to go with its offensive, and also uncertainty about

my colleague hugo bachega was at the site of one of the strikes and he was three stories down undergroundroyed as well as the building itself, which stood on top of it. some of these are really powerful strikes with very large scale weapons. it is happening in the south of the country as well, our bbc team around the city of tyre have been there sharing images today of these similarly huge blast. more evacuation orders telling people to leave. still a lot of people on the streets, i saw people on the streets, i saw people on the streets here in beirut a little earlier. people now are trying to make makeshift shelters. i think at the start they thought it would may be a few days, but you can see people starting to bed in and perhaps feeling that this operation by israel, this ground is of asian that happened in the south, described by the idf as a localised and limited, people here feeling it could go on for some time. in here feeling it could go on for some time-— here feeling it could go on for some time. in beirut, are you caettin some time. in beirut, are you getting any — some time. i

there's been more devastating airstrikes in beirut overnight and our middle east correspondent hugo bachegas report from one of the areas targeted by israel's rockets. so, this is the site of an attack that happened earlier this morning, about six hours ago. there is still thick smoke rising from the location here. there is a heavy smell in the air. and over there another location that was hit this morning. and in between the buildings, we can see the destruction caused by these air strikes. overnight, there were more air strikes here here. there were multiple secondary explosions. this is an indication that weapons and ammunition were being stored in the places hit. the israeli military has accused hezbollah of hiding weapons in residential areas — something hezbollah has denied. and we have seen that beirut has become a key target of the israeli military in this conflict against hezbollah. and here where hezbollah is based in the capital has been repeatedly hit. this is a densely—populated disfrict here in beirut and it is now completely empty. hugojoins us now from beirut, and as we can

let's go to hugo bachega in beirut.een to see some of the damage caused by israeli strikes? what have you seen? yes, the hezbollah _ what have you seen? yes, the hezbollah stronghold - what have you seen? yes, the hezbollah stronghold in - what have you seen? yes, the hezbollah stronghold in beirut| what have you seen? yes, the - hezbollah stronghold in beirut has been heavily hit by the israeli military in the last two weeks. this morning hezbollah told journalists on a tour to see some of the destruction caused by those air strikes. this is the site of an israeli air strike in the hezbollah stronghold in beirut. this building was head. there is nothing left of it. there is still some smoke coming from the rubble. there is a very heavy buildings nearby, they were also heavily damaged by the attacks. pictures of the late hezbollah leader have been set up here. the scale of this destruction give you a sense of the power of the attack that happened here. and the israeli military has accused hezbollah of using the civilian

israel has issued fresh evacuation orders, after a night of strikes on beirut. 0ur correspondent hugo bachegat. this is one of the sites hit by israeli air strikes overnight here in southern beirut. and 12 hours later there is still smoke coming out from the rubble and there is a heavy smell in the air. residents say a sweet shop operated here and we can actually see some bags of the shop, and the israeli military has often accused hezbollah of hiding its facilities in residential areas and under civilian buildings. this is a built—up area here in beirut, not really far from the airport. and we have seen that nearby buildings have also been partially destroyed, heavily damaged and we have been told by residents that nearby residential buildings have been evacuated following orders by the israeli military. so this part of beirut, very much a target of the israeli army. we have a live page on our website which is covering all developments. if you need to be brought up to day, colleagues are reporting on the ground, also updating that live page. you can also access our bbc news app. and we will

our middle east correspondents hugo bachega and yolande knell updated me on the situations — from beirutt remains a very tense time. a short time ago we had rocket warning sirens going off in tel aviv and in the centre of israel. this after hamas said it fired two of its longer range rockets in that direction. earlier in the day we had reports of something like four projectiles being fired from the gaza strip towards the communities around the edge of the perimeter and the israeli military said those were intercepted or landed in open areas. but it's still a reminder that hamas has this capability after one year. in the north of the country, hezbollah has been firing and we have been hearing about continuing alarms in the occupied going heights, most notably for israeli citizens. for the first time this morning, haifa was hit directly by rockets. also there were rockets that hit in tiberias and also on top of that, two drones that were intercepted in the centre of israel coming in from the east. the country had been told to stay in a high state of alert, one year on from this massive nat

but first, hugo bachega in beirut has more on israel expanding its ground operation in lebanon.y saying they have now started ground operations in south—west lebanon, so expanding this ground invasion to a new zone in the country. they had started these operations in the south—east of lebanon, and the military is still describing what is happening as a limited, targeted localised operation. i think this is another indication that the israeli military is expanding its ground invasion of lebanon, its campaign against hezbollah. more israeli troops have been deployed to lebanon and the israeli military yesterday warned people to stay away from a stretch of the lebanese coast, saying it will start targeting hezbollah also from the sea. indications this is likely to be a wider offensive by the israeli military in lebanon. today marks one year since hezbollah started firing rockets at israel, saying they were acting in solidarity with palestinians in gaza. now lebanon is very much at the heart of this war, the focus of the israeli military. more than 2000 people have been killed here

our correspondent hugo bachega has been following the story from beirut.th of the country and the city of nabatiyeh in the south, where it seems there was a wave of very heavy israeli airstrikes. we've seen images emerging from nabatiyeh showing several plumes of smoke, and again, reports suggesting that it was a wave of airstrikes this morning, and our reports suggesting that one of the locations hit was the local authority building, where dozens of people were working. and reports suggesting that including the mayor was working was in this building the moment that this attack happened. so we're still waiting to hear official confirmation about, you know, what happened in nabatiyeh and obviously the possibility of casualties. but again, you know, this is an area of lebanon that has been heavily bombarded by the israeli military in recent weeks, as the israeli army continues with this offensive against hezbollah, not only with airstrikes, but also with the ground invasion of parts of southern lebanon and nabatiyeh has been one of the key targets of this ai

the bbc�*s hugo bachega is in beirut.lent night of israeli air strikes in the east of the country, in the beqaa valley. 16 areas were hit, and those attacks happened with no warning by the israeli military. there hasn't been reaction from the israeli army explaining those attacks, what was being targeted with those air strikes last night, but the lebanese health ministry saying at least 60 people were killed, including two children, and images that have been posted on social media show widespread destruction in some of those areas, also fires that were sparked by those air strikes, and the head of the civil defence in baalbek said that those air strikes happened at the same time last night, that residential buildings were hit, and in one village residents overnight pleaded on social media for heavy equipment to be sent to the area, to help in those rescue efforts, so that gives you a sense of the desperate situation there, following those air strikes, and this morning in another village rescue efforts continued for five p

our middle east correspondent hugo bachega let's go live. beirut and my colleague anna foster. we have seen strikes right in the city of beirut — notjust in the southern suburbs. the city of beirut - notjust in the southern suburbs. that's riuht. in the southern suburbs. that's right- this _ in the southern suburbs. that's right- this is — in the southern suburbs. that's right. this is the _ in the southern suburbs. that's right. this is the centre - in the southern suburbs. that's right. this is the centre of - right. this is the centre of beirut. with that building was hit last night, it was about 20 past midnight. i look across here and saw the orange flame and the windows of the surrounding buildings. a lot of these strikes have been focused on the southern suburbs of beirut, where hezbollah is based. it was really unusual to see a strike like this in the heart of beirut in the downtown area. very close to parliament. there's a big you building close by. so far, the majority of those strikes have been concentrated in one area. the idf ha

hugo bachega has this report. overnight attacks followed by more attacks in the morning.appears to capture secondary explosions, an indication of weapons being hit. we went to see the destruction caused by one of the overnight attacks. this place was hit about 12 hours ago, and there is still smoke coming out of the rubble. there is a heavy smell in the air, and there is destruction all around, including some buildings farfrom here. i can count at least three underground floors. it is all destroyed. israel accuses hezbollah of hiding weapons amongst civilians, an accusation hezbollah denies. this building, residents told us, included a sweet shop. we found a bag with the shop's name next to the tail fin of a mortar unlikely to be used by the israeli military in this attack. we could not stay long. a group of men arrived and ordered us to leave. in gaza, israel's war against hamas continues, a war almost forgotten because of the one being fought here. israel bombed another school housing displaced residents where it said hamas had set up a control centre. a nearby mosque w

we've been getting the latest on the ground from our middle east correspondent, hugo bachega who is inde knell who is injeruslam. you could hear very quickly the rocket sirens that were going off, my phone has at to give alerts, it was beeping constantly. you had to spend about one hour inside a shelter and it was the entire population of israel that had this order to stay in a safe room during this enormous strike by iran. something like 180 ballistic missiles, if you compare that to what happened with the previous major strike by iran in april, this time it was nearly all ballistic missiles, as far as we understand, that were used. it took 12 minutes for them to reach israeli airspace and there was relatively little warning compared to last time. you had tv presenters flat on the floor as they were doing their broadcasts. normal life around the israelis going back to their business, many of them getting ready for the jewish new year which is just getting ready for thejewish new year which is just coming up. this is a very tense time as people wait and see what happens next. certainly

our middle east correspondent, hugo bachega is in beirut and shared me the latest.e still don't have a clear picture of the extent of this israeli incursion. the israeli military has been describing it as a targeted, localised limited incursion so far. we had some details from a senior israeli security official, saying that these are local raids, very limited in scope, in the area, so no crashes happening so no clashes happening at the moment between israeli forces and hezbollah fighters in the south according to this senior israeli official. obviously hezbollah has remained defiant. yesterday, we heard from the group's number two who said that hezbollah fighters were ready to confront any israeli invasion. this is a part of the country that is a hezbollah stronghold. obviously after two weeks of widespread israeli air strikes, high—profile assassinations, hezbollah has been weakened, its leadership has been almost completely decimated, but the group remains a very powerful force. it is believed to have thousands of rockets, including missiles that can strike deep i

andrea tenenti talked to our correspondent hugo bachega. how do you react to what happened today?ery concerning what happened today, what happened the day before or what happened three days ago, what happened in the last several days, several attacks against our peacekeepers. today, we had israeli forces entering inside one of our position in the middle of the night. they stay there for 45 minutes, damaging the entrance, and leaving shortly after, and then there was an explosion immediately one hour later outside a base, with smoke, and our peace keepers, 15, although they were wearing masks, they had irritation of the skin, gastrointestinal problems and they are now recovering. so the situation is serious, has been serious, as i said, since idf decided and informed us they would enter inside lebanese territory for this targeted incurions, and after that they asked the mission to leave some of the positions close to the blue line, and there was an unanimous decision to stay, because that is our role, we are here because the security council wanted us to be here, and we are still i

joining me now is our middle east correspondents hugo bachega from beirut and yolande knell from jerusalem with you, we just heard from a correspondent finding out how hamas are still able to fire rockets into israel this money. israel is on a state of alert. give us more details on how this money has looked, both on the northern border as well as the northern border as well as the southern border?- the northern border as well as the southern border? indeed, it remains a _ the southern border? indeed, it remains a very— the southern border? indeed, it remains a very tense _ the southern border? indeed, it remains a very tense time. - the southern border? indeed, it remains a very tense time. a i remains a very tense time. a short time ago we had rocket warning sirens going off in tel aviv and in the centre of israel. this after hamas said it fired two of its longer range rockets in that direction. early in the day we had reports of something like four projectiles being fired from the gaza strip towards the communities around the edge of the perimeter and the israeli military said those wer

joining me now is hugo bachega.their own about popularity and is relevant for what is happening, but the hearing very different from lebanon for example stop this is not a state against the state, this is a group, hezbollah, often described as a state within a state here in lebanon, fighting israel. 50 lebanon, fighting israel. so the here. — lebanon, fighting israel. sr the here, here in beirut, there hezbollah base, they were going to fire. they saying they're not going to change their resistance and they are determined to resist. they think this is an aggression by israel against lebanon. but outside hezbollah support base, what people have been saying for almost a year now is that they were concerned that these hezbollah attacks on israel was dragging lebanon into a conflict that is not in their interests. this is a conflict that lebanon has not decided to fight. this is a country that has been struggling to recover from years of an economic crisis, political crisis, refugee crisis, so a lot of people are exhaus