orla guerin, bbc news, tyre. we will speak to orla guerin live in a moment.k to paul adams in the north of israel. we have heard a change in rhetoric in the last few hours but are there visible signs the israeli army is preparing for this invasion? hat preparing for this invasion? not reall . it preparing for this invasion? not really- it is _ preparing for this invasion? not really. it is rhetoric for them for the time being and i don't think anyone anticipates any kind of ground operation happening anytime soon. i think we are in for a lot more bombing before israel reaches that point. are speaking you from a kibbutz where there are 200 israeli civilians waiting to go to the homes they evacuated from a year ago. some of them are from a kibbutz 25 miles north of here, and we were there this afternoon being shown around by the israeli army, seeing evidence of houses damaged by rocket strikes. the army personnel we spoke to said hezbollah has to be pushed back from the border, has to be pushed back as far as the litani river, a significant distance back from t

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.allah had not been seen in public for years because of fears of being assassinated by israel. responding to hassan nasrallah's death, iran's supreme leader reaffirmed his support for hezbollah. ayatollah ali khamenei said the fate of the middle east would be determined by what he called "the forces of resistance". our diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley has more on one of the best—known and most influential figures in the middle east. hassan nasrallah was the face of hezbollah, a hugely influentialfigure in the shadowy world of middle east militias, a hero and resistance fighter to many lebanese shia and others. to israel, a terrorist leader. it was after the assassination of his predecessor in 1992 in another israeli air strike that hassan nasrallah became head of hezbollah. with the backing of its main supporter iran, he transformed it into one of the most powerful paramilitary groups in the middle east, with huge political clout in lebanon as well, essentially a state within a

we can go to orla guerin in southern lebanon.rk and the un of de—escalation. what chance of that? what we are hearing here is the exact opposite. in the last few hours we have heard a lot of outgoing fire from hezbollah, we have heard a lot of incoming israeli air strikes and we have seen hezbollah rockets leaving a red trail streaking across the sky here. so the exchanges are not as heavy as yesterday but they are continuing. what's very striking is that israel itself said today hezbollah managed to fire 300 rockets across the border, the very thing israel wanted to stop. this comes after everything that happened yesterday, 1500 israeli strikes, more than 500 lebanese killed. entire communities emptied out, the city where i'm speaking to you from tonight, tyre, is basically a ghost town. all of that has gone and hezbollah can still fire. it is not using its heaviest weapons, it still has precision guided missiles that could reach all over israel. these have not been deployed yet. it seems that reach all over israel. these have n

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.e border today. and israel has been hitting hard, with dozens of fighter planes bombing southern lebanon, targeting hezbollah rocket launchers, israel says. if the international community was concerned before, it will be far more worried tonight. orla guerin, bbc news, beirut. a short while ago i spoke to orla guerin in beirut and asked her about the israeli strikes on lebanon tonight. tonight israel has been stepping up its bombardment of southern lebanon. it says it is doing that in response to intelligence that has that hezbollah was planning to carry out a series of attacks on israel, so israel's presenting this as preemptive action on israel, so israel's presenting this as pr: that tive action on israel, so israel's presenting this as pr: that hezbollah, >n israel, so israel's presenting this as pr: that hezbollah, for also know that hezbollah, for its part, the reigning backed group, it isn't backing down. it has continued firing rockets across the border into israel, up across t

orla guerin, bbc news, tyre.was badly maimed and is still suffering. i don't want to lose any of my men the same way." they're already struggling to keep up with the air strikes. now they say they'll work from the street to save lives. orla guerin, bbc news, tyre. joining me live is randa slim, director of the conflict resolution programme at the middle east institute. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. we saw that special meeting of the un security council tonight, discussions how to de—escalate the discussions, and then hezbollah has linked to any discussions on this proposal to a ceasefire deal in gaza, and the israelis, especially the israeli prime minister, have been opposed until now to a ceasefire deal in gaza. so we're stuck in this middle zone somehow where there is a proposal on the table, there are ideas that have been accepted by both parties de—escalate the tensions and maybe to achieve a ceasefire, but then it is conditional at least on a ceasefire deal in gaza. ~ ., ., , ., gaza. we heard from th

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.ional correspondent orla guerin sent us this update from beirut. the speech did not mark any major departure, it is what we have heard from him before but it is his first comment since the wave of attacks this week. he admitted this had been a —— and major unprecedented growth saying israel had crossed all redlines with carrying out all of these attacks. he accused israel of what he called shear terrorism. you set its escalation would not help to return its citizens to their homes near the border. he insisted hezbollah was not broken, it would deliver retaliation, he gave no sense of the timeframe. but as i say, it did not mark any major departure from him. there has not been much reaction so far. the speech was quite recent, but the since we were getting from hezbollah supporters this afternoon as they buried it to fighters here in beirut is that their battle goes on, unchanged. they said they can expect anything from israel, one woman among the mourners said she would donate her own

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.rs there has been an intense wave of israeli strikes in southern lebanon. israel says it has been targeting terrorist infrastructure. we don't yet know exactly what has been hit and we have no reports yet of whether or not anyone has been killed. but what's very clear is that israel is intending to keep up the pressure on hezbollah. it has been firing today across the border, continuing to show that it can strike. and all of this is happening as the united states and the international community is calling on all parties to avoid escalation and show restraint. o rla restraint. orla guerin in lebanon, thank you. let's go to israel. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams is injerusalem — heavy bombing in lebanon — where is israel going with this? the thing to remember, of course, is there has been a war now between israel and hezbollah for the best part of the year. it has been a war of varying intensities and it does seem to be hotting up again. tens of thousands of civilians on both si

orla guerin, bbc news, tyre.als in lebanon are overwhelmed after last week's attacks there — and there are concerns that the country's healthcare system "will completely collapse". we've also been getting a sense of how many people have been displaced since monday — the united nations puts that number at 90,000. that number is in addition to the 111,696 people who were recorded as displaced since october 2023. earlier, i spoke tojesse marks, who is a senior advocate for the middle east at refugees international. he told me more about the situation on the ground. i think the military operations in lebanon have caused, i mean, an immense human toll. probably the largest the country has seen in decades. from folks that we've spoken to, right, as you repeated the numbers, you know, high numbers of casualties, 500 people lost, including women and children, from colleagues are telling us at least 50 syrian refugees are dead. we heard reporting of additionally of two unhcr workers. this really echoes the devastation and

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut. sumi: israeli and u.s. say the detonation of pagers on tuesday came earlier than planned due to israeli fears hezbollah had learned of the plan. a number pagers were recovered intact and are being forensically examined for clues. police visited the offices of a company in taiwan, as the pagers seemed to carry a taiwanese brand. it was thought the devices came from there. the head of the company denied any involvement in the attacks. he told journalists they were made by a company based in hungary called bac consulting, under a deal signed three years ago. while israel has not commented on the explosions, defense canister -- a defense minister says the country is opening a phase of the war and will be the north. diverting troops to israeli media reports troops have been redeployed. gallant made the announcement while speaking to troops at an israeli air base. >> because of covid -- the center of gravity is moving to the north. this means we are diverting forces, resources, and energy towards the north. we ha

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.eople are living with the daily threat of rocket attacks by hezbollah. our correspondent paul adams is in northern israel, where evacuees from further north have been housed for almost a year. the jagged remains of a hezbollah rocket. nothing that happened in israel today remotely compares with events across the border, but hezbollah is hitting back. david had seconds to get his family into the safe room before the rocket came through his roof. the local rabbi comes to offer support. israel, david says, did not want this war. we don't have a war with them. they start with no reason. so now we are giving back. and it will, in the end, it will be ok. do you feel lucky today? yes, very lucky. israel's defence minister has called on the public to show composure and discipline, and listen to the instructions issued by the local authorities. it's only because the family who live here did precisely that that no one was hurt. air raid sirens. across northern israel, sirens wailed and rockets f

orla guerin, bbc news, in the bekaa valley. strikes are continuing notjust in lebanon.it has started a large—scale operation against targets in yemen as well. we can go to jerusalem and speak to john dawson. speak tojohn dawson. what's the latest? speak to john dawson. what's the latest?— the latest? israel is fighting on multiple _ the latest? israel is fighting on multiple fronts - the latest? israel is fighting on multiple fronts today. in| on multiple fronts today. in yemen, israel said it carried out air strikes on one of the country's biggest ports used to import oil and also to power stations. officials in yemen are saying the number killed is four with 29 injured. that is some 1800 km away from israel, some 1800 km away from israel, so the reach of israel's military is long. they say these straits were in response to attacks carried out by iranian by iranian—backed rebels. by iranian-backed rebels. just a few days _ by iranian-backed rebels. just a few days ago. _ by iranian—backed rebels. just a few days ago, there is a discussion about a cease—fire planned for

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut. the situation, i've been speaking to aaron david miller — he's a senior fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace. always great to have you here on the programme. the un chief antonio guterres has been warning that lebanon could become another gaza. is he right? are we that close to another devastating war breaking out in the region? look, no—one ever lost money betting against escalation in the middle east. but i must admit we've watch this for 11 months. for 11 months, i would've predicted by now israel and hezbollah would have been escalating for more than we see. even in the wake of what was probably the october 7 event from the standpoint of hezbollah in terms of a massive failure and breach of communications and not to mention the psychological damage and the morale — israel has continued to eliminate top hezbollah commanders and officials. from the standpoint of hezbollah in terms of a massive failure and breach of communications and not to mention the psychologi

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.rusalem paul adams is injerusalem and he told us where israel is going with this escalation. the thing to remember of courses there been worn worn out between israel and hezbollah for the best part of a year. it has been a war of varying intensities and it seems to be hotting up again. tens of thousands of civilians of both sides on the border have been forced to abandon their homes. hezbollah clearly is intent on showing it is still a fighting force, despite what has happened to it this week. and that means that israel needs to figure out what to do next. and how to confront what could be a very serious hezbollah reaction. the head of israel's northern command is thought to favour a limited ground invasion to create a buffer zone in southern lebanon— that hassan nasrallah locked during his speech. we don't know if that is what the government has in mind but since it is saying it wants to see the return of its civilians to those border communities, clearly, it is going to have to do so

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.lestinian health officials say at least 22 people were killed in an israeli strike on a school. officials said most of the victims were women and children who were sheltering there. israel's military says it was targeting a hamas command room. there are reports that an unborn child was among those killed. bbc verify has looked at several videos of the aftermath. clips appear to show a foetus being carried by a civil defence worker. to the occupied west bank, where israeli forces have raided aljazeera's office in ramallah that's according to the news organization. you're looking now at pictures from aljazeera's broadcast, when it says heavilyarmed israeli troops handed a 45—day closure order to a staff member. the soldiers say an israeli court issued the closure. israel banned journalists from the qatari—based network from operating inside the country back in may, when it shut down aljazeera's offices in eastjerusalem. israel says the network was a threat to the country's security. at l

orla guerin, bbc news, tyre.jeremy bowen explained earlier i spoke tojesse marks, who is a senior for the middle east at refugees international. he told me more about the situation on the ground. i think the military operations in lebanon have caused, i mean, an immense human toll. probably the largest the country has seen in decades. from folks that we've spoken to, right, as you repeated the numbers, you know, high numbers of casualties, 500 people lost, including women and children, from colleagues are telling us at least 50 syrian refugees are dead. we heard reporting of additionally of two unhcr workers. this really echoes the devastation and the indiscriminate attacks that we witnessed in gaza after the brutal october 7th attacks. and once again, we are seeing little coordination with humanitarian actors on the ground, which has raised the potential risk of threatening and killing aid responders. we're hearing large numbers of folks who are fleeing north. increasingly concerning, we are also hearing lebanes

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.key target for israel and had been for many years, notjust in the last year since the cross—border attacks began on the 8th of october, the day of course after those with residential buildings where families and children were living, israel has talked today about what a significant success that was for them. our security correspondent frank gardner looks now at a man who is one of the most well—known and influential in the middle east. hassan nasrallah, a towering figure in the violent world of middle east militias, a hero to many lebanese shia, to israel and other some western countries, a leading terrorist. his assassination by israel is hugely significant. it removes at a stroke a key figure in iran's so—called axis of resistance against israel. hassan nasrallah had been secretary general of hezbollah for 32 years, overseeing its growth into the world's most heavily armed non—state army and a political party. he was born in lebanon in 1960 in beirut�*s eastern district. he took over

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.saleh, senior lecturer in iranian studies at the centre for arab and islamic studies at the australian national university. thank you forjoining me at this hour. i want to start with your reaction to the last 48 hours, where we have seen both those pager and walkie—talkie attacks. those pager and walkie-talkie attacks. , , , ., ., attacks. one impression for sure has — attacks. one impression for sure has been _ attacks. one impression for sure has been very - attacks. one impression for. sure has been very effective, very sophisticated, and it shows israel has ecological superiority over its enemies in the region, in terms of intelligence. it has been quite successful, and well coordinated. however, the q coordinated. however, the 0 question remains to be answered, to what extent this operation helps israel strategically to deal with it security challenges in the region. some of these key challenges and threats are structural and cannot be resolved by the act of sabotage and or assass

orla guerin starts our coverage. a community in mourning.rn lebanon today. ii were killed here yesterday by israel's massive bombardment. the dead included four women, an infant and a seven—year—old girl called joury. herfather, mohammad halal, says she was an innocent child and a martyr. he pledges his support for the hezbollah leader, sheikh hassan nasrallah. "even if they kill us," he says, "we are at your service." also being mourned today, dina darwiche and her son, jad. killed in their own home by an israeli missile. here she was at work with the un refugee agency. it says it is outraged and deeply saddened, and civilians must be protected. a miracle rescue was filmed today. civil defence workers prised this elderly man out from under the rubble of his own home in southern lebanon. others are still fleeing from the south. we saw some on foot, driven from their homes by israel's war from the air. and the knowledge that things could get worse. we saw smoke still rising from a recent strike and went for a closer look. but hezbollah was wa

orla guerin, bbc news, in the beqaa valley.ring of blows to its command structure in lebanon over the past fortnight, culminating in the killing of its leader, hassan nasrallah, on friday. so how did the israel defense forces manage to track him down, and how have they been able to target so many of hezbollah's top commanders so quickly? our security correspondent frank gardner has been looking into it. targeting hassan nasrallah was a strategic decision by israel. in hiding foryears, he had long been in their sites, so how did they do it? israeli intelligence was widely assumed to be behind the lethal sabotage of all those thousands of hezbollah pagers and walkie—talkies. mossad, the israeli spy agency, is thought to have inserted explosives into the supply chain. that was almost a fortnight ago. what's transpired since then is that it goes deeper still. have a look at this pyramid. the israeli military says it has assassinated all of these senior hezbollah commanders. so, just how has this israeli campaign been able to penetr

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.ople in lebanon and caused widespread fear. our security correspondent, gordon corera has been looking at this new form of technological warfare. these have been extraordinary attacks — taking communications devices people carry around and turning them into weapons to be used against them. today, hand—held radios — walkie—talkies — were exploding suddenly in lebanon. this is what was left of one of them. it follows yesterday afternoon, when thousands were injured by small explosions in people's hands and pockets. this was the culprit then — a pager — which can receive text messages. pagers and walkie talkies are old—school technology but something hezbollah turned to recently because it feared its mobile phones could be tracked. this map details the location of injuries sustained in yesterday's attack, the vast majority in beirut. but how was it done? today, washington said it did not know. the united states did not know about, nor was it involved in these incidents. we're still gather

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut. hear now from our correspondent anna foster in beirut — she gave me a sense of what the atmosphere is like in the lebanese capital this evening. this time yesterday, we still had the confusion and the fear and people trying to work out what had happened after that very, very large air strike that we felt and we heard and we saw the plume of smoke, just a few kilometres away. we saw people fleeing from the southern suburbs of beirut and we have seen them again when it got like this morning, and people with children, trying to find somewhere to shelter. along the seafront area here, the mediterranean, some of those people again have been out on the streets. when they heard the news of the death of hassan nasrallah, again we saw pictures of people incredibly emotional because of what had happened because as frank was describing, he was very much seen as the hero, as a totemic figure of hezbollah. in other parts of the middle east region, certainly in israel, in theory as well and by peop

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.my bowen is injerusalem — and considers where these cross—border strikes between israel and hezbollah leave tensions in the region. i think they are right to be worried. i think that both sides in the past have pulled back from the brink and there is nothing to say that will not happen again but that, i am afraid to say, is not how it looks tonight. the progresses in one direction, towards a bigger wall. the damage done to hezbollah means i think that would struggle to take defensive action but they are missiles deeper into israel. as for the israelis, i think they feel they have an advantage here, that maybe they could push forward and they have said the time has come to push hezbollah back from the northern border so that the 60,000 israelis who have been forced to leave their homes in the course of the last year will be able to return. now, if hezbollah does not buckle, and i do not expect them to because fighting israel is deep in their dna, then israel says it will do more. that m

our senior international correspondent orla guerin has the latest from beirut. explosion. what beirut has been enduring, massive israeli strikes that could ignite the whole region because israel killed its target, sheikh hassan nasrallah. for his followers, it's a devastating blow, for his iranian backers, a strategic loss. the long—time leader of hezbollah was a long time in hiding. this was the moment, in a new york hotel room on friday, when binyamin netanyahu approved the strike on his old enemy. translation: the state - of israel yesterday eliminated the master murderer hassan nasrallah. we settled accounts with the one responsible for the murder of countless israelis and many citizens of other countries. nasrallah was not another terrorist, he was the terrorist. israel claims this is a historic turning point. for many in beirut, it's a time of fear. plenty were fleeing the city today, clinging to the hope of finding safety somewhere. but there is danger in every direction in lebanon. we travelled through dahieh, the hezbollah stronghold now looking anything but. it's

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.jeremy bowen is injerusalem — and considers where these cross—border strikes between israel and hezbollah leave tensions in the region. up up in right be worried. the damage to hezbollah means they couldn't take any defensive action, however they are firing missiles deeper into israel. as for the israelis, i think they feel they have an advantage here that maybe they can push forward. they have said the time has come to push hezbollah back from the northern border so that the 60,000 israelis whose been forced to leave their homes over the course of the last year will be able to get back there. if hezbollah don't buckle, and i don't expect them to come up because it's buckle, and i don't expect them to come up because its deep in their dna, israel says it will do more. that might be some kind of ground operation involving sending tanks and troops into lebanon, and that, i think then goes into a very escalatory dangerous situation and that's what the americans particularly are really wor

and our senior intenational correspondent orla guerin sent this report. war from the air in southern lebanon today. but there are growing signals that it's planning a ground war, perhaps within hours. in beirut, israel has struck near the heart of the city, killing three palestinian militant leaders in this apartment block overnight. this attack marks a new moment. we're in the centre of the city here. the area is densely populated. usually, these streets are full. there's a major university just around the corner. the war isn't confined to the hezbollah suburbs now, it's right here and all the signs point to escalation. hezbollah said today there could be a long war, in its first public address since israel killed its leader, hassan nasrallah, on friday. the armed group's number two, sheikh naim qassem, said hezbollah will face any attack and if israel chooses to invade by land, it's ready to resist. even without a ground war, lebanon is shattered. israeli attacks have already caused immense destruction and terrible loss. they were still digging today in

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.lestinian health officials say at least 22 people were killed in an israeli strike on a school. officials said most of the victims were women and children who were sheltering there. israel's military says it was targeting a hamas command room. there are reports that an unborn child was among those killed. bbc verify has looked at several videos of the aftermath. clips appear to show a foetus being carried by a civil defence worker. at least 12 people have been injured in a russian bomb attack on an apartment building in ukraine's second—largest city, kharkiv. the assault on saturday came hours after ukrainian drone attacks on two russian ammunition depots, one in the south—western region of krasnodar, the other in toropets, a town in russia's north—western tver region. ukrainian officials say more than 100 drones were used in the operation, which also focused on targets in russian—occupied crimea. russia says it shot down 18 ukrainian drones overnight. our europe correspondent jess par

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.s a key target for israel and had been for many years, notjust in the last year since the cross—border attacks began on the 8th of october, the day, of course, after those devastating attacks on the 7th of october in southern israel. he has been a focal point of israel for a long time. he commanded the organisation for more than three decades. we know that a lot of specific israeli intelligence went into the mission. to give you a bit of context, israel said that hezbollah�*s command centre, the headquarters that they targeted, hezbollah�*s command centre, was buried deep underneath a building in a dahieh in the southern suburbs of beirut. hassan nasrallah had not been seen in public for years because of fears of being assassinated by israel. when he made speeches, it was always in secret locations because of fear of disclosing his location. when he did rallies, he did it via video link on a big screen. for years he wasn't present in front of a crowd, such was the rhetorical price put

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.c correspondent caroline hawley has more on hassan nasrallah, who he was, and his importance in the region. hassan nasrallah was the face of hezbollah, a hugely influentialfigure in the shadowy world of middle east militias, a hero and resistance fighter to many lebanese shia and others. to israel, a terrorist leader. it was after the assassination of his predecessor in 1992, in another israeli air strike, that hassan nasrallah became head of hezbollah. with the backing of its main supporter, iran, he transformed it into one of the most powerful paramilitary groups in the middle east, with huge political clout in lebanon as well. essentially, a state within a state. hassan nasrallah led hezbollah during the war with israel back in 2006, when the group fought the idf to a standstill. but last week, a crippling blow for hezbollah, as thousands of pagers, then walkie—talkies used by the group, used by the group exploded simultaneously. hassan nasrallah knew he was a target, lived mostly u

no—one can be sure what will come next. 0 rla orla guerin reporting there.iseh kohnavard, bilingual middle east correspondent — she's in a part of beirut where many displaced people spent their night in a small park. tell us where exactly you are, what are people saying to you there? i what are people saying to you there? ., what are people saying to you there? . ., ., �* there? i am in downtown beirut for the second _ there? i am in downtown beirut for the second day _ there? i am in downtown beirut for the second day and - there? i am in downtown beirut for the second day and these i for the second day and these people behind me arejust family, the tens of families that have spent the second night on the street with no help, no support. they had to stay in the parks and they are, we saw a lot of other families that were just sleeping in the street. there is no place for them to go back. some of them decided to go to syria, to return to syria and also some lebanese decided to go to syria because they think syria now, for example, damascus would be safer tha

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut. tel aviv — and considers where these cross—border strikes between israel and hezbollah leave tensions in the region. the damage done to hezbollah means they would struggle to take any effective defensive action that they are firing missiles deeper into israel. as for the israelis i think they feel they have an advantage here, that maybe they can push forward and they have said the time has come to push hezbollah back from the northern border so that the 60,000 israelis who have been forced to leave their homes over the course of the last year will be able to get back there. now if hezbollah does not buckle and i do not expect them to because fighting israel is deep in their dna than israel says it will do more. that may be some kind of ground operation involving sending tanks and troops into lebanon and i think that, then, goes into an escalatory and dangerous situation and that is what the americans, particularly are worried about. they still say there should be some kind of diplomat

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.ditorjeremy bowen has more hezbollah�*s response, and the impact of israel's strike. first of all i can tell you that hezbollah in beirut haveissued a statement confirming that ibrahim aqil is dead. "a greatjihadist", they said, "a blessed life full wounds, sacrifices, risks and achievements." after a week of, well, exploding pagers and radios and now this raid on a meeting that the hezbollah leadership clearly thought was secret in a basement in their stronghold in the southern suburbs of beirut. i mean, they have had a disastrous week, and they must be wondering what else israel has got in store for them. however, these remarkable tactical victories by the israelis do not bring them closer to their strategic objectives, which is, first of all, to stop the fire across the border into israel from lebanon, which has in fact intensified, and to get 60—plus thousand israelis back to their homes in border towns, which have become ghost towns. there are more lebanese, incidentally, on the o

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut. let's get some analysis now. mohamed taha from bbc arabic. good morning. hello, sally. all sides are under pressure to come to some sort of agreement to stop this escalating any further. tell us the latest on that. ~ .., further. tell us the latest on that. ~ , . further. tell us the latest on that. , ., , that. we can see all parties, including _ that. we can see all parties, including hezbollah - that. we can see all parties, including hezbollah and - that. we can see all parties, l including hezbollah and israel and, of course, the united states, manifested in president biden and the defence minister austin all of them are calling and hoping that this would not go for all—out war because they know that hezbollah has got tens of thousands of fighters, tens of thousands of fighters, tens of thousands of fighters, tens of thousands of missiles. it did not use all their missiles yet. we saw over the weekend they used new missiles they never used in this war, both of them about 100 kilometres in range we saw the ca

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.david miller, seniorfellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace. the un chief antonio guterres warning sunday that lebanon could become another gaza. is he right? are we that close to another devastating war breaking out in the region? no—one ever lost money betting against escalation in the middle east. but i must admit we watch this for ii but i must admit we watch this for 11 months and for ii but i must admit we watch this for 11 months and for 11 months i would have predicted by now israel and hezbollah would have been escalating for more than we see. even in the wake of what was probably the october seven event from the standpoint of as below in terms of a massive failure of communications and the psychological damage and the morale israel has continued to eliminate top hezbollah commanders and officials. but even now, six days after the pages and the walkie—talkies exploded, you see the rules of the game appear to be observed by both sides. yes, israeli struck and k

orla guerin, bbc news, tyre.nationals to leave at once, 700 more uk military personnel are on their way to cyprus to prepare for a possible evacuation. chris mason has more in new york. the lofty urban heights of new york. the prime minister swapped his party conference for the ultimate conference of world leaders — the united nations general assembly. and uppermost in mind, lebanon. they're already struggling to keep up with the air strikes. now they say they'll work from the street to save lives. orla guerin, bbc news, tyre. calling on british nationals to leave at once, 7oo calling on british nationals to leave at once, 700 more uk military personnel are on their way to cyprus to prepare for a possible evacuation. chris mason has more in new york. the lofty urban heights of new york. the prime minister swapped his party conference for the ultimate conference of world leaders — the united nations general assembly. and uppermost in mind, lebanon. i call on the security council to seek political solutions that ca

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.ficials say at least 22 people were killed in an israeli strike on a school. officials said most of the victims were women and children who were sheltering there. israel's military says it was targeting a hamas command room.there are reports that an unborn child was among those killed. bbc verify has looked at several videos of the aftermath — clips appear to show a foetus being carried by a civil defence worker. david schenker is the former us assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, now a senior fellow and in gaza — palestinian health officials say at least 22 people were killed in an israeli strike on a school. officials said most of the victims were women and children who were sheltering there. israel's military says it was targeting a hamas command room.there are reports that an unborn child was among those killed. bbc verify has looked at several videos of the aftermath — clips appear to show a foetus being carried by a civil defence worker. david schenker is the fo

our chief international correspondent orla guerin reports now from beirut.s footage captures the moment of the attack, in the heartland of hezbollah. explosion the skyline looks like a city at war. israel hit hard, without warning, in the densely populated residential district of dahiya. calling this a "precision strike", the target was the veteran hezbollah military leader ibrahim aqil. israel said he had been "eliminated", along with about ten commanders of an elite unit. at the time of the strike, aqil and the commanders of the radwan forces were gathered underground under a residential building in the heart of the dahiya in beirut, hiding among lebanese civilians, using them as human shields. they were in the middle of planning more terror attacks against israeli civilians. aqil had plenty of enemies. the us had put a $7 million bounty on his head, accusing him of involvement in the killing of americans in beirut in the 1980s. siren wails day after day now, hezbollah is being hit and being weakened by warfare from a distance. we were repeatedly prevented

orla guerin reporting from beirut. speech at the un general assembly as us president, joe biden spoke about the rising escalation in the middle east, calling for a diplomatic resolution. full—scale war is not in anyone�*s interest. even as situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible. in fact, it remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes on the border safely. and that's what we're working, that's what we're working tirelessly to achieve. earlier the un secretary—general, antonio guterres, had told the annual gathering of delegates and world leaders that lebanon was "on the brink". gaza is a nonstop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it. look no further than lebanon. we should all be alarmed by the escalation. lebanon is at the brink. the people of lebanon, the people of israel, and the people of the world cannot afford lebanon to become another gaza. joining me live from beirut, our correspondent anna foster and

orla guerin, bbc news, southern lebanon.a few hours after israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, gave a defiant speech at the un general assembly in new york, making no mention of the ceasefire deal mooted in the last few days between israel and hezbollah, instead saying they would continue to attack hezbollah until people who had had to leave their homes in the north of israel were able to return home. with the latest, here is tom bateman. the israeli leader walked straight into the question all the diplomats here at the un are asking. prime minister netanyahu, are you agreeing to a cease—fire deal or not? and he wasn't answering it in the hall, either. instead, this was defiant and a vow for hezbollah�*s backers. i have a message for the tyrants of tehran, if you strike us, we will strike you. there is no place in iran that the long arm of israel cannot reach, and that is true of the entire middle east. watching were some relatives of israeli hostages held in gaza. mr netanyahu didn't mention diplomacy, saying only,

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.retary of state antony blinken said he believes a gaza ceasefire is still possible — but the relationship between israel and southern lebanon needs to be resolved. we continue to work to get a cease—fire for gaza over the finish line, and as we discussed with some of you just a day ago, in egypt, we believe that remains both possible and necessary. but meanwhile we don't want to see any as actions by any party that make that even more difficult. there is a real problem that needs to be resolved when it comes to northern israel and southern lebanon, and that is the fact that since october the 8th, hezbollah has been firing rockets into israel, israel has been firing back, the population in both northern israel and southern lebanon has had to flee their homes, and we all want to see them be able to go back to their homes, and that requires a secure environment. france and the united states believes strongly and working together toward a diplomatic resolution and an agreement that would c

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut. both sides and urged all british nationals to leave lebanon war commercial flights are still available. he was speaking after a meeting with his french, american and italian counterparts in paris. we are all very, very clear that we want to see a negotiated, political settlement so that israelis can return to their homes in northern israel and indeed lebanese can return to their homes, and that's why tonight i'm calling for an immediate cease—fire from both sides, so that we can get to that settlement, that political settlement, that political settlement that's required. more women have contacted the bbc saying that they were assaulted by the late mohamed al fayed when he was the boss of harrods. more than 20 women who worked for him have already come forward as part of a bbc investigation accusing the egyptian billionaire, who died last year, of multiple counts of rape and attempted rape during his 25—year reign at harrods. many claim that during that time, the company helped cover u

orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.ped by the late owner of harrods, mohamed al—fayed, when they worked for him at the luxury department store. the bbc has heard testimony from more than 20 female ex—employees who say the billionaire sexually assaulted them — as well as claims that harrods helped cover up allegations of abuse. mr al—fayed owned harrods until 2010, and died last year at the age of 94. the store's current owners say they are "utterly appalled" by the accusations. this report contains descriptions of sexual violence. our correspondent helena wilkinson reports. ijoined harrods because i wanted to be a buyer, and i ended up working for an absolute monster. when mohamed al—fayed took over harrods, he quickly embraced his high profile role and the status that came with it. to his customers and the celebrity guests he was all charm, but to many of his female employees, he was a different man, a predator. we've heard testimony from more than 20 of al—fayed's female ex—employees. he tried to rape me more than onc