Image source, Reuters

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has begun delivering Friday prayers in Tehran's 's Grand Mosalla Mosque - the first time he has done so in nearly five years.

The last time Khamenei delivered Friday prayers was after the US assassinated the Revolutionary Guard general, Qassem Soleimani, in 2020.

We will bring you the key lines here - and you can follow an English translation by clicking watch live above.

Image source, Reuters

We can now bring you some images from the Masnaa crossing this morning, where people are fleeing to Syria from Lebanon:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

More now on the Israeli air strike that the Lebanese transport minister said hit a road near the country's border crossing with Syria.

Speaking from Beirut, the UN's World Food Programme's country director for Lebanon tells the BBC the Masnaa border crossing has been "very significantly bombed".

Matthew Hollingworth adds that this will affect people's ability to flee the fighting in Lebanon.

"Also, it will mean that goods that would normally come overland through that crossing - the cheapest, most effective way to bring commodities into the country - will also not be able to be to be received here," he tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Residents in more than 30 villages in southern Lebanon have been ordered to evacuate immediately by the Israeli military.

An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson told them to leave their homes "immediately" and "head north of the Awali River".

"Anyone who is near Hezbollah elements, installations, and combat equipment is putting his life at risk," Avichay Adraee wrote in a post on X.

"Any southward movement may put you in danger," he adds.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will lead Friday prayers in Tehran for the first time in nearly five years.

Huge crowds are gathering around Tehran's Grand Mosalla Mosque for the ceremony, which will begin with commemorations for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in Israeli air strikes last week.

Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles into Israel on Tuesday night in retaliation for his assassination.

Iran's foreign minister has landed in Beirut, Lebanese state media report.

"An Iranian plane arrived at Rafic Hariri International Airport with Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on board," Lebanon's NNA news agency reports.

It comes after Israeli bombing caused large explosions in Beirut overnight, including one close to the international airport.

In its latest operational update, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says about 20 rocket launches were detected from Lebanon this morning.

It says most of the rockets were intercepted, with the rest falling in an open area.

Air raid sirens were activated in Israel's Western Galilee region and in the Haifa bay area.

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Beirut

The scars of Lebanon’s earlier wars were still visible in Beirut before this one started. And the city now finds itself, again, in the middle of a conflict, with new scars emerging.

Nights here are interrupted by loud blasts and explosions that light up the sky. They are so powerful that are heard, and sometimes felt, miles away.

Beirut, so used to wars, seems to be trying to adapt to this new reality. Some shops, restaurants and bars are open again in central areas, still seen as relatively safe. Reminders of the war, however, come often: the attacks, the constant sound of drones flying overhead, or the large numbers of displaced people, sleeping in streets and squares.

Conversations are inevitably dominated by what is happening here and across the country, and the hope that the violence will, "Inshallah", God willing, end soon.

People often compare the current violence between Israel and Hezbollah with the conflict they fought in 2006, which lasted a month. But Israeli airstrikes and assassinations continue, its ground invasion of the south is apparently expanding, and with Hezbollah vowing to resist, this war could be longer, and more painful, than the last one.

It's now nearing 10:00 in Beirut, where dark clouds of smoke can be seen across the city's skies after another night of intense Israeli air strikes. Here are the latest images from the capital this morning:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, AFP

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA-EFE

Hashem Safieddine, widely considered to be a potential successor to assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, was reportedly among those targeted in overnight Israeli strikes that caused massive explosions in Beirut, US media report.

The New York Times quotes Israeli officials as saying the military had information suggesting Safieddine, Nasrallah's cousin, and other Hezbollah leaders were meeting in a bunker in the southern Dahieh district of the Lebanese capital.

Axios cites an Israeli official as saying that Safieddine was in a bunker deep underground, and it is not yet clear whether he was killed in the strikes.

According to Lebanese news reports, the Israeli attack was far larger than the one that killed Nasrallah last week, Axios says.

Hezbollah has not commented.

There are reports emerging this morning that a key road connecting Lebanon with Syria has been hit by an Israeli strike.

Lebanon's transport minister told Reuters a strike hit inside Lebanese territory near the Masnaa border crossing, creating a four-metre (12ft) wide crater. Lebanon's official news agency also reports that the road has been cut off, AFP news agency says.

An Israel Defence Forces (IDF) military spokesman had accused Hezbollah on Thursday of using the crossing to transport military equipment into Lebanon.

"The IDF will not allow the smuggling of these weapons and will not hesitate to act if forced to do so, as it has done throughout this war," the spokesman said on X.

This week, the UN said at least 130,000 people are estimated to have crossed into Syria from Lebanon since 23 September, fleeing the bombing.

Orla Guerin
International correspondent, in Tyre

For Lebanon there is no respite – Israel’s campaign of air strikes is relentless, in the capital, the east and the south.

The assault appears to widening in scope, days after Israeli troops invaded on the ground.

At least 37 people were killed yesterday around the country, according to Lebanon's health ministry. Late last night there was a strike near the airport in Beirut – the only international airport in Lebanon.

Here in the southern city of Tyre, morning arrived with the sound of several very loud explosions. They sounded closer than other blasts we have heard in recent days.

This week Israel has issued evacuation orders for large areas of the south, but also for areas north of Tyre, much deeper inside Lebanon and far from the border. Israel’s war aims appear to be growing.

Aoife Walsh
Live page editor

Image source, Getty Images

A fresh wave of air strikes rocked Lebanon's capital Beirut on Friday, as Israel continued its battle against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

One of the huge explosions was heard just outside the city's international airport, which borders Dahieh - Hezbollah's stronghold in the capital.

Multiple US media reports citing Israeli officials say a key target was Hashem Safieddine, considered to be the potential successor of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's long-standing leader who was killed in a similar attack last week. Safieddine's condition is unknown.

At least 37 people had been killed in Israeli attacks in the last 24 hours, while 151 others had been wounded, Lebanon's health ministry said.

Meanwhile, at least 18 people have been killed in an Israeli air strike in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm.

The Palestinian Authority-run news agency Wafa said the air strike had hit a cafe in the Tulkarm refugee camp where many civilians had been present.

The Israeli military said the air force had conducted a strike in a joint operation with its Shin Bet security service, and had killed the head of Hamas in Tulkarm and "other significant terrorists".

We'll be bringing you live updates and analysis here - stay with us.

It's coming up to 04:00 in Beirut, where there have been huge explosions not far from the airport. You can watch a video of the moment the blast happened here.

You can read more about the latest updates on the conflict below:

• Large explosions were reported near Beirut's international airport close to the suburb of Dahieh, Hezbollah's stronghold in the city
• The blasts came after fresh evacuation orders came from the Israeli military for civilians living near buildings in Dahieh as they are "located near Hezbollah facilities and interests". More evacuation orders for areas near a building in the Hadath district also came later
• Earlier, Israel also carried out strikes on Hezbollah's stronghold in southern Beirut, with Israel saying it attacked the group's "intelligence headquarters"
• At least 18 people have been killed after Israel's military carried out a strike on a West Bank refugee camp in Tulkarm
• Israel said senior Hamas figure Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi was killed in the strike
• President Joe Biden has denied suggestions Israel was planning to strike Iran on Thursday but said the US was "discussing" the possibility of Israel striking Iranian oil sites - prompting the price of oil to jump 5%
• Biden later told reporters he doesn't believe there will be an "all-out war" but that there is still "a lot to do" to bring calm to the region, and reiterated US support for Israel
• Watch as Jeremy Bowen presses Hamas deputy leader on 7 October attacks

We will resume our coverage on Friday. This page was edited through Thursday by Rob Corp, Marita Moloney, Fiona Nimoni and Alex Binley. Nafiseh Kohnavard, Hugo Bachega and Sally Nabil reported from Beirut, Orla Guerin in Tyre and Lucy Williamson from Israel's northern border.

More now from Biden, who has just spoken to reporters upon his arrival back at the White House.

When asked how confident he is that an "all-out" war can be avoided in the Middle East, he took a pause and responded: "How confident are you it's not going to rain?"

"Look, I don't believe there is going to be an all-out war. I think we can avoid it. But there is a lot to do yet."

Asked if he would send US troops to Israel, he said: "We have already helped Israel. We are going to protect Israel."

Image source, Reuters

US President Joe Biden was just asked by reporters whether he was urging Israel not to attack Iranian oil facilities due to concerns about a spike in oil prices.

The price of crude oil has risen considerably along with tensions in the Middle East.

"I know not to negotiate in public," Biden told reporters.

When asked if prices would rise if Israel attacks Iran's oil infrastructure, he noted that hurricanes can also raise prices.

The comment came as he was traveling to tour destruction from Hurricane Helene which has claimed 200 lives in the south-eastern US.

Palestinian health officials say at least 18 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a cafe in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli authorities confirmed earlier that they had used jets to bomb the city of Tulkarm, and had killed the local head of Hamas and a number of other members of the group.

The IDF has carried out dozens of strikes in the West Bank in the past year, but normally uses drones or helicopters.

The Palestinian health ministry in the West Bank says 700 people have been killed there since the 7 October attack sparked the war in Gaza.

Tom Bateman
State Department correspondent, reporting from Washington

Image source, Getty Images

I’ve been at the US Department of State news briefing, where I pressed the spokesman about the Israeli airstrike that hit a health clinic in central Beirut, killing nine people according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

The missile reportedly hit a clinic belonging to the Hezbollah-linked Islamic Health Organisation. An eyewitness said it appeared medics were among those struck.

I asked State Department spokesman Matthew Miller if the US, which arms Israel, had an assessment based on international humanitarian law, which sets a high bar before military attacks can take place on healthcare facilities.

Miller said he “couldn’t speak to the circumstances” of this attack but added that US assessments had found that in Gaza, for example, Hamas had built bunkers under hospitals.

Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, hospitals enjoy special protection in war. But that protection can be lost if they are used for “acts harmful to the enemy”. However, hospitals can’t be targeted simply for treating wounded combatants which is not considered an act “harmful to the enemy”.

If hospitals are targeted, there has to be “due warning” and they can only be struck if that warning goes “unheeded”.

“I’m fully aware of the provisions of international humanitarian law,” said Miller. “I just don’t have the underlying facts about this strike and why they made this strike and what they believed they were hitting,” he said.

Earlier, the World Health Organization said at least 28 on-duty medics had been killed in the past 24 hours in Lebanon, adding many others had fled areas they work in due to “bombardments”.

The Israeli military says it has killed a senior Hamas figure following an air strike on a camp in the occupied West Bank.

An Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said Thursday's strike in Tulkarm killed Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, who it says headed Hamas in the area.

The statement adds that the strike killed "multiple" other operatives in the network.

The Israel Defense Forces' Arabic spokesman, Avichay Adraee, has issued a new warning to residents of a neighbourhood in southern Beirut to leave the area ahead of an impending air strike.

Col Adraee said people living near a building in the Hadath district should get at least 500 meters away from the building marked on a map accompanying his post on X.

Image source, X/Avichay Adraee/IDF