Summary
Israel says it has killed another key Hezbollah official, a day after announcing the death of leader Hassan Nasrallah
The IDF says air strikes on Lebanon on Saturday killed Nabil Qaouk, a member of the central council - Hezbollah has not commented
Earlier on Sunday, Israel said it hit "dozens" more Hezbollah targets overnight; Lebanese media said at least 15 people were killed
Hassan Nasrallah was one of the best known and most influential figures in the Middle East - reports say his body was recovered on Sunday
The supreme leader of Iran - which arms and funds Hezbollah - says his death "will not go unavenged"
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel "settled the score" by killing Nasrallah
Live Reporting
Edited by Owen Amos, with Orla Guerin, Nafiseh Kohnavard & Hugo Bachega reporting from Beirut
Nasrallah's body has been recovered, Reuters reportspublished at 12:19 British Summer Time
12:19 BSTBreaking
Image source, EPAThe Reuters news agency reports that Hassan Nasrallah's body has been recovered from the site of an air strike in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Citing a medical source and a security source, Reuters say the body had no "direct wounds". Hezbollah confirmed Nasrallah's death yesterday.
Syrians flee Lebanon to head back to own war-torn countrypublished at 12:04 British Summer Time
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Orla Guerin
Senior international correspondent, reporting from BeirutSome in Lebanon are fleeing across borders looking forsafety – including Syrians returning to their war-torn homeland.
We passed a group of about 50 Syrians sitting by the side ofthe road, beside a broken-down bus. They were waiting for an engine partto arrive so they could continue their journey to the Syrian region of Aleppo.
There were young men, women and many children, including a baby boy of 4months old. No-one wanted to be identified.
One young man told us that when the Israeli warnings wereissued on Friday night (to get out of the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahieh),they left immediately with just the clothes on their back.
They spent twonights sleeping on the street.
“We didn’t care if anyone gave us food oraid,” he said, “we just wanted to be safe with the kids”.
Image source, Reuters'No option but the diplomatic option' to end conflict - Mikatipublished at 11:48 British Summer Time
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A bit more from Lebanon's prime minister.
Earlier we heard a Lebanese government minster say that ceasefire talks with Israel were "still under way".
And now Lebanese PM Najib Mikati tells reporters that he "welcomes" a ceasefire, adding that if such a development went ahead, it must apply to both Gaza and Lebanon.
He says there is "no option but the diplomatic option" when asked about talks to end the cross-border conflict with Israel.
A ceasefire would mean the United Nations Security resolution 1701 - adopted to end the last Israel-Lebanon war of 2006, but never properly implemented - could be applied, Mikati says, in addition to all Israeli hostages returned.
Up to one million people may be displaced, Lebanon's PM sayspublished at 11:37 British Summer Time
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Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati has just held a press conference and says recent Israeli air strikes may result in the "largest displacement movement" that his country has ever seen.
"The number of displaced people... could reach a million," he tells reporters, shortly after holding an emergency cabinet meeting earlier today.
Mitaki says there's been a "large influx" of people fleeing from Lebanon's south and the Bekaa Valley region in the east, adding that many of the displaced people were not Lebanese.
His comments come as the UN's food agency says it has launched an emergency operation to provide aid for up to one million people.
The Middle East is once again holding its breathpublished at 11:15 British Summer Time
11:15 BST
Frank Gardner
Security correspondentIsrael,Hezbollah and Iran have all talked repeatedly about "settling scores" and thephrase is now doing the rounds once again. But behind the rhetoric and thehyperbole lies a complex art of carefully calculated calibration.
Do nothingafter your enemy has hit you and you could appear powerless. Retaliate too hardand you risk escalation and an even harder blow in return.
See AlsoIs the Capital One Venture X worth the annual fee? - The Points GuyCapital One Venture X Card's Welcome Bonus History: 2021 to TodayCapital One Venture X Card Review: A High-End Travel Card With Big Benefits | The Motley Foolcapital of whose culture? The cities on the edge project – Tafter JournalTheseare the deliberations taking place right now in Tehran and amongst what is leftof Hezbollah’s depleted leadership.
Iran already considered it "owed" aretaliation against Israel for the 31 July assassination in Tehran of its ally,the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Before that, when Israel bombed theIranian consulate in Damascus in April, killing a key general from the IranianRevolutionary Guards Corps, Iran waited a few days then struck back massively,launching a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel, nearly all of which wereshot down.
It then took a monumental diplomatic effort by Israel’s allies totemper its own retaliation for that attack.
Today, the Middle East is once more holding its breath, waiting to see how Iran andHezbollah will respond to the successive hammer blows that Israel isdelivering.
Nobody wants a full-scale regional war, but then nobody in thisregion wants to look weak.
In pictures: Flattened buildings and rubble in Beirut's southern suburbspublished at 10:56 British Summer Time
10:56 BST
As we continue our coverage of the latest in the cross-border conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, here are some of the latest pictures coming out of Beirut.
Residents have been surveying the scenes of destruction in the southern suburbs of the capital, following recent Israeli air strikes.
Image source, Getty ImagesImage source, EPAImage source, ReutersNegotiations for a ceasefire are still 'under way', Lebanese minister sayspublished at 10:32 British Summer Time
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Lebanon's information minister has said during a cabinet session with the government that diplomaticefforts for a ceasefire with Israel are still "under way".
That follows on from this week's major escalation, which saw Israel striking Hezbollah in Beirut and killing the group's leader - Hassan Nasrallah - along with other senior commanders.
Israel has ignored previous calls for a ceasefire - including a 21-day proposal put forward by the US, UK and the EU last Wednesday.
Lebanon’s prime minister Najib Mikati also dismissed reports last week that he had signed on to that proposed ceasefire, saying they were “entirely untrue”.
Image source, EPAUN food agency launches emergency operation in Lebanonpublished at 10:13 British Summer Time
10:13 BST
Image source, EPAThe World Food Programme (WFP) has launched an emergency operation in Lebanon to help distribute aid for up to one million people in the region.
"A further acceleration of the conflict this weekend underscored the need for an immediate humanitarian response," the agency says in a statement.
As of yesterday, there were well over 200,000 people who had been displaced inside Lebanon, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The food agency - which has already helped more than 66,000 people in recent days - says it will be distributing ready-to-eat food rations, bread, hot meals and food parcels to displaced people in shelters across the country.
WFP country director Matthew Hollingworth says the agency is preparing to help "up to one million people through a mix of cash and food support".
Israeli military says senior Hezbollah figure killed in Saturday strikepublished at 09:58 British Summer Time
09:58 BST
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it killed a senior Hezbollah official in strikes carried out on Lebanon on Saturday.
Nabil Qaouk - head of Hezbollah's preventive security council and a key member of its central council - was killed by fighter jets yesterday, the IDF says in a statement.
Hezbollah has not provided any comment on Qaouk's fate.
The IDF described Qaouk as being "close to the top" of Hezbollah and went on to say he was "directly engaged in promoting terrorist plots against the State of Israel and its citizens".
Israel shows no intention of ending war with Hezbollahpublished at 09:45 British Summer Time
09:45 BST
Jon Donnison
Reporting from JerusalemImage source, Getty ImagesIsrael is showing no intention ofending the war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearlyfeels he has the boot on the throat of the Iranian-backed militia and iscontinuing to apply the pressure.
The Israeli public is much more united in itssupport for the campaign against Hezbollah than it is for the war in Gaza, wheremany Israelis feel the government should be prioritising a ceasefire andhostage release deal with Hamas.
There is much speculation over whetherIsrael’s next step will be to launch a ground invasion into southern Lebanon.It has been sending troops to the border.
But a ground offensive would likely cost the lives of Israeli soldiers already exhausted after a year offighting in Gaza. And previous invasions - most recently in 2006 - have failedto remove the Hezbollah threat.
Timeline: 13 days that have changed the Middle Eastpublished at 09:21 British Summer Time
09:21 BST
Image source, ReutersThe situation in the Middle East has changed dramatically in the past fortnight as Israel stepped up its attacks against Iran-backed Hezbollah, killing its long-term leader yesterday.
Here's a recap of recent events:
- 17-18 September: Pagers and walkie-talkiesbelonging to Hezbollah members explode in two waves across Lebanon, killing at least 37 people and wounding thousands more. Israel is believed to be behind the attacks
- 20 September: Israel strikes a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut, killing 55 people - including, it says, a top commander
- 23 September: Israel launches a massive bombardment on Lebanon, targeting what it says are 1,300 Hezbollah sites in the south, eastand in the capital. More than 550 people are killed in a single day – the deadliestday of the conflict in decades
- 25-26 September: Amid Israel’s continued strikesinto Lebanon, with returned fire from Hezbollah, world leaders at a UN summit in New York urge de-escalation.Allies – including the US, UK and EU – form a 12-bloccoalition calling for a temporary ceasefire, which is rejected by Israel and not acknowledgedby Hezbollah. The death toll in Lebanon soars past 630 people
- 27 September: Netanyahu addresses the UN vowingto "defeat Hezbollah". Later that day he orders the assassination of Hezbollah’s leaderHassan Nasrallah in strikes on the group’s headquarters in Beirut
- 28 September: On Saturday, the IDF announces it haskilled Nasrallah, which is confirmed by Hezbollah a few hours later. The killingof the group’s leader of nearly 30 years, a significant figure of anti-Israeli resistanceacross the region, is a huge blow to Hezbollah in Lebanon and its main backer and regionalpower Iran
Could it all now escalate into a wider Middle East conflict? It depends on what these key parties - Hezbollah, Israel and Iran - do next writes our security correspondent Frank Gardner. And what is the scene like now for people living in Lebanon? Orla Guerin in Beirut has more.
Hezbollah has been weakened, but it's not defeatedpublished at 08:40 British Summer Time
08:40 BST
Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in BeirutImage source, ReutersThere is atense and anxious mood in Lebanon, as the country waits to see how Hezbollah isgoing to respond to the killing, by Israel, of the group’s leader HassanNasrallah.
He was one ofthe most powerful, and controversial, men here, leading an organisation oftendescribed as a state within the state.
Hezbollah is considered a terrorist group bythe UK, the US, and others but, in Lebanon, it is more than a militia: it is apolitical party, with representation in parliament and a social organisation,with significant support.
PrimeMinister Najib Mikati, who announced three days of mourning for Nasrallah,warned that his country was facing a dangerous moment, as Israel indicates itsoffensive will not stop, and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon seemsimminent.
Hezbollah isweakened, but has not been defeated. Far from it. It remains a formidableforce, with thousands of battle-hardened fighters and tens of thousands ofrockets, including missiles capable of striking deep inside Israel.
Concernsremain that this conflict could go beyond Lebanon and include otherIranian-backed groups in the region, including the Houthis in Yemen andmilitias in Iraq and Syria.
AcrossLebanon, hospitals and shelters are already struggling to cope after two weeksof intense Israeli attacks that have killed at least 1,000 people and displacedtens of thousands more.
Iran confirms IRGC commander's death in Friday strikes on Beirutpublished at 08:15 British Summer Time
08:15 BST
Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC MonitoringImage source, EPAIran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has confirmed thedeath of Brig Gen Abbas Nilforoushan, deputy commander of IRGC operations, in astatement.
Nilforoushan was killed in Israel's 27 September air strikes onLebanon.
In the statement, there is no mention of IRGC’s retaliation overhis killing, although IRGC has condemned “crimes of the Zionist regime” inLebanon.
IRGC had previously promised several times to retaliate overthe death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh who was assassinated in Tehran in lateJuly.
The statement describes him asan IRGC "military advisor in Lebanon” - a term Iran usesfor its military forces in the region, including in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria.
The statement hails Nilforoushan for his role in defending"Resistance front" and Iran, and expresses condolences over his deathto Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, his family, comrades, and people of Iran.
Nilforoushan was appointed as the operations deputy of the IRGC in2019, succeeding Ali Zahedi.
Prior to this, he served as the head of the IRGC's Command andStaff University and as the acting deputy commander of the Imam HosseinHeadquarters, which is responsible for training and organising the paramilitaryBasij forces.
Iran's response will be key to what happens nextpublished at 07:54 British Summer Time
07:54 BST
David Gritten
BBC NewsImage source, EPAIran’s supreme leader has said the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah "will not go unavenged", a day after he was killed in an Israeli air strike in Lebanon.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced five days of mourning in Iran in response to what he called the "martyrdom of the great Nasrallah", describing him as "a path and a school of thought" that would continue.
Israel’s military said Nasrallah had "the blood of thousands... on his hands", and that it targeted him while he was "commanding more imminent attacks".
Key to what happens next in the Middle East is what Iran's supreme leader, AyatollahKhamenei, decides.
So far, he and other senior Iranian figures have refrained fromvowing to retaliate for the series of severe and humiliating blows that Israelhas dealt Hezbollah in recent weeks, seemingly because Iran does not want a warwith its arch-enemy.
Iran also has not carried out its threat to avenge the assassination of Hamasleader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, which Iran andHamas blamed on Israel.
Both Hezbollah and Hamas are designated as terroristorganisations by Israel, the US, UK and other countries.
Cross-border fire from Lebanon detected, IDF sayspublished at 07:44 British Summer Time
07:44 BST
A further update from the Israeli military says they have identified eight launches crossing from Lebanon into Israel, which it says fell into open areas.
It follows on from siren warnings that were triggered in Tiberias - in Israel's north - a short while ago.
At least 15 killed in latest Israeli strikes, Lebanese media reportspublished at 07:20 British Summer Time
07:20 BST
Some more details are emerging on the latest Israeli strikes carried out in Lebanon.
Local media reports that at least six people have been killed in the south of the country and a further nine in the Bekaa Valley - a Hezbollah stronghold in north-eastern Lebanon.
The Arabic newspaper An-Nahar says that three people were killed in the southern Lebanon town of Anquon with another three killed in other locations across the southern area of Nabatieh.
In a separate report, the newspaper says nine members of a Syrian family - including children and the mother, who was Lebanese - were killed in the Bekaa Valley region.
IDF says it has intercepted a drone from the Red Seapublished at 06:51 British Summer Time
06:51 BST
As well as cross-border fire at Israel's northern border, it says it's also facing threats from the south.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said within the last hour that it intercepted a drone coming across the Red Sea, to the south of the country.
Yesterday, they also said they intercepted a missile fired from Yemen by the Houthis - an Iranian-backed rebel group which considers Israel an enemy.
The Reuters and AFP news agencies reported that yesterday's missile had been timed with the arrival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the airport.
Israeli PM hails 'historic turning point' after Nasrallah's death - here's the latestpublished at 05:44 British Summer Time
05:44 BST
Aoife Walsh
Live page editorHezbollah confirmed on Saturday that its long-standing leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had been killed after intense Israeli air strikes on Lebanon.
Nasrallah's death is a major escalation in Israel's war with the Lebanese militant group, BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner writes, which has potentially brought the region a step closer to even wider conflict.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, vowed Nasrallah's death would "not go unavenged". Iran, which has backed Hezbollah both financially and militarily, declared several days of public mourning, as did Lebanon and Iraq.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Nasrallah's death, which came after Israel on Friday attacked what it said was Hezbollah’s central headquarters in Beirut, as a "historic turning point". He said that by killing Nasrallah, Israel had "settled the score".
US President Joe Biden said Nasrallah's death was a "measure of justice" for his victims, but that Washington would keep working to de-escalate the conflict. "It's time for a ceasefire now," he told reporters.
Meanwhile, Israel's military says it carried out "dozens" of raids on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in the past few hours.
We'll continue to bring you the latest developments and analysis, so stay with us.
'Dozens' of Hezbollah targets attacked - IDFpublished at 05:25 British Summer Time
05:25 BST
Israel's military says it carried out dozens of raids on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in the past few hours.
In a statement posted on Telegram on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces said the targets included projectile launchers aimed toward Israel.
The strikes targeted "buildings where weapons and military structures of the organisation were stored," according to the statement.
Israel has attacked "hundreds" of Hezbollah targets in the last day, it added.
What now for Hezbollah?published at 05:04 British Summer Time
05:04 BST
Frank Gardner
Security correspondentHezbollah is reeling from blow after blow.
Its command structure has been decapitated, its communications have been sabotaged and many of its weapons have been destroyed in air strikes.
The US-based Middle East security analyst Mohammed Al-Basha says: "The loss of Hassan Nasrallah will have significant implications, potentially destabilising the group and altering its political and military strategies in the short term."
But any expectation that this vehemently anti-Israel organisation is going to suddenly give up and sue for peace on Israel’s terms is likely to be misplaced.
Hezbollah has already vowed to continue the fight. It still has thousands of fighters, many of them recent veterans of combat in Syria, and they are demanding revenge.
It still has a substantial arsenal of missiles, many of them long-range, precision-guided weapons which can reach Tel Aviv and other cities. There will be pressure within its ranks to use those soon before they too get destroyed.
But if they do, in a mass attack that overwhelms Israel’s air defences and kills civilians, then Israel’s response is likely to be devastating, wreaking havoc on Lebanon’s infrastructure, or even extending to Iran.
