• Nine people were killed and 14 injured by overnight Israeli strikes on Beirut, the Lebanon health ministry says - it marked the first Israeli strike on the heart of Lebanon's capital in this conflict
• Israel says it struck targets belonging to "Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters", and has warned people living in southern Lebanon to leave their homes because strikes will continue
• The BBC's Nafiseh Kohnavard describes there being a constant sound of buzzing - from drones - in the skies above Beirut

• President Joe Biden has denied suggestions Israel's planning to strike Iran today but said the US was "discussing" the possibility of Israel striking Iranian oil sites - prompting the price of oil to jump 5%
• Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that 28 health workers in Lebanon have been killed in the past 24 hours - with the organisation's head warning a shipment of aid won't go ahead on Friday due to flight restrictions
• Dubai-based airline Emirates has cancelled flights to Iran, Iraq, Jordan flights for three days, "citing regional unrest" - the company had already cancelled flights to Beirut until at least 8 October

Nafiseh Kohnavard
BBC Persian Middle East correspondent, in Beirut

There is a constant, strong sound of drones buzzing in the skies above Beirut.

If you're wondering how it sounds, it’s like a hair dryer or a drill that were left on - or a giant mosquito.

Some friends are telling me that they're used to it now, having heard it overhead day and night in the past few days.

I myself am not, though, yet.

Faisal Islam
Economics editor

The ongoing crisis in the Middle East could potentially have major economic impacts, particularly when it comes to oil.

The price of crude oil shot up 5% today after President Biden said the US was "discussing" the possibility of Israel striking Iran’s oil industry, in response to Tehran firing missiles at Israel on Tuesday. (We look at what Biden said in more detail in our previous post.)

Iran is the seventh largest oil producer in the world, exporting around half its production abroad - mainly to China. Since Iran’s missile barrage on Israel, crude oil prices are up 10% to $77 (£59) per barrel for the key Brent crude.

Even now, they remain below levels seen earlier this year, as weaker demand from China and ample supply from Saudi Arabia act to hold prices down.

But the escalation of violence in the Middle East, and threat of further escalation, is now stalking the oil markets. Of particular concern is whether any escalation could block the Straits of Hormuz, through which a third of oil tanker traffic and a fifth of LNG frozen gas has to pass.

• Get up to speed with why this increase comes at such a critical point

Image source, Reuters

We reported earlier on some remarks President Biden made to White House reporters, about whether an Israeli strike on Iran was imminent.

He said "there is nothing going to happen today", while reminding journalists "we don't 'allow' Israel, we advise Israel".

Since then, various international news outlets have quoted Biden as answering another question from reporters about possible Israeli strikes on Iranian oil sites, in retaliation for Tehran's missile attack on Israel.

"We're discussing that. I think that would be a little... anyway," the US president said, when asked if he supported Israel making such a move.

• For context: Iran launched almost 200 ballistic missiles towards Israel on Tuesday night. The Israeli military said most of the missiles were intercepted, but that a small number struck central and southern Israel.

Families and loved ones have been photographed getting emotional at an airport in Beirut, where dozens of Greek nationals and Greek Cypriots have been evacuated from the Lebanese capital.

The plane made two stops: first, dropping off 38 people at Larnaca airport in Cyprus, and then continuing to Athens where 22 Greek nationals disembarked.

Image source, REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Image source, REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Image source, REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Image source, REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

A former UK ambassador to Iran has told BBC Radio 4's The Today Podcast that he thinks Tehran "would like to de-escalate".

Sir Simon Gass, who also used to be political director at the Foreign Office, said he was "pretty confident that Tehran is a very worried place at the moment" and would "like to draw a line under this".

But he also warned that there was a "risk" that Iran might try to accelerate its development of a nuclear weapon.

"If you’re Iran and you’ve seen some of your main instruments of deterrence... not achieving massive effect... Do you at that point think 'well, what we really need is a nuclear deterrent'? And you try to speed the thing up."

When asked about Israel’s aims, he said it wasn't possible for it to achieve a regime change in Iran.

"Israel has achieved some extraordinary military successes so far and no doubt they will do more, but in the end this is about getting Israelis into their homes in northern Israel.

"That is not going to be easy to do. It’s about finding a longer-term solution to Gaza. That is not going to be easy to do.

"And you may strike Iran, but don’t think that you’re going to be able to topple the regime and absolutely change Iran’s view of the world and its capabilities because that’s not going to happen either.”

• For context: Gass was Britain's ambassador to Iran between 2009 and 2011. You can listen to his full interview with the BBC here.

Our colleague Anna Foster, in Beirut, is answering your questions on the Middle East in our stream above - just press watch live to follow along.

She's joined by Middle East correspondent Lina Sinjab, security correspondent Frank Gardner in London and US State Department correspondent Tom Bateman from Washington.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

US President Joe Biden has dismissed suggestions of an Israeli strike on Iran being launched today.

Asked by reporters at the White House if the US would allow Israel to respond to Tuesday's attacks from Iran, Biden said: "First of all, we don't 'allow' Israel, we advise Israel. And there is nothing going to happen today."

Following the large-scale missile attacks launched by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran will pay for the "big mistake".

Twenty-eight health workers in Lebanon have been killed in the last 24 hours, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference that many health workers are also "not reporting to duty as they fled the areas where they work due to bombardment".

Plans to deliver a large shipment of trauma and medical supplies to Lebanon will not be able to go ahead on Friday due to flight restrictions over the country, he added.

The building hosting Hezbollah's media relations office in Beirut took multiple hits earlier on Thursday, a Hezbollah spokesperson has told the BBC.

The floor where Hezbollah's office is located was not hit, they said.

Lebanon's MTV media outlet published what it said was footage of the attack. It shows heavy smoke rising from a building that also houses several shops and businesses. It sits amid other residential buildings in the Lebanese capital.

We've been watching a livestream from the Reuters news agency overlooking southern Beirut.

The skyline has been shrouded in smoke from Israeli air strikes for much of the day.

Click play below to see the what's been happening in the last few minutes.

Israel says it has struck targets belonging to "Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters" in Beirut.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the strikes "included terror operatives belonging to the unit", command centres and "intelligence-gathering means".

The IDF continued that the headquarters direct "Hezbollah intelligence activity" and coordinate "intelligence-gathering".

Explosion near Syrian airbase used by Russianspublished at 14:27 British Summer Time 3 October

14:27 BST 3 October

By Paul Brown and Richard Irvine-Brown

Now to Lebanon's neighbour, Syria, where several images and videos appeared on social media overnight, claiming to show a large explosion near the Hmeimim airbase, roughly 200km north of Damascus.

The base has a history of being used by Russian forces, where two of their servicemen were killed by shelling in December 2017. Days later, Russia also claimed to have thwarted a drone attack at the base.

So far, we have verified one still image. We cross-referenced it to satellite imagery and matched the shape of the road and the layout of the building on the corner.

We also made sure the photo was new by checking whether it had been previously indexed by Google or Yandex (the Russian-language equivalent of Google).

What BBC Verify can't say from this image is how close this explosion was to the airbase. The hope is, as we verify other images' points of view, we get a more clear idea of what was struck.

We have also asked for satellite imagery as soon as possible to show where has been damaged and to what extent.

Iran's foreign ministry has accused G7 countries of being "biased and irresponsible" over their condemnation of the missile attack on Israel.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei pointed to the "definite responsibility of G7 countries, especially the United States, in increasing insecurity and instability in West Asia" due to them arming and supporting Israel.

On Wednesday, G7 leaders - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and US - in a joint statement condemned Tehran's attack and expressed "strong concern" over the crisis.

Iran also summoned the German and Austrian ambassadors on Thursday over Berlin and Vienna's disapproval of the attack.

Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad has said that 1,974 people - including 127 children - have been killed in Israeli attacks since 8 October 2023.

The previous death toll announced by the Lebanese authorities on Tuesday was 1,873.

Speaking on Friday, Abiad also said that 9,384 people have been injured.

An aerial view of Beirut shows that last night's air strike was close to several landmarks in the city.

Israeli forces targeted a multi-storey block in Bachoura where a Hezbollah member lived and which housed a Hezbollah-affiliated health centre, which Israel's military said was hit in a "precision" attack.

Lebanon's health ministry say nine people were killed and 14 injured in the attack.

BBC journalists in Beirut have reported hearing explosions in the Dahiyeh area of the city.

Three large explosions were heard, according to Reuters news agency.

Dubai-based airline Emirates says it has cancelled flights from Dubai to Iraq, Iran and Jordan for three days over "regional unrest".

"Customers transiting through Dubai with final destinations in Iraq, Iran, and Jordan will not be accepted for travel at their point of origin until further notice," it said in a statement.

Last week Emirates cancelled flights between Dubai and Beirut until at least 8 October.

• The Israeli military says it has killed 15 Hezbollah members in an overnight airstrike
• Residents in 25 additional areas in southern Lebanon have been told to evacuate their homes and head north
• The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut last night has risen to nine, according to Lebanese officials
• Israel has announced that three senior Hamas figures were killed in Gaza three months ago

Hanan Baba was on a flight chartered by the UK government that left Beirut for Birmingham on Wednesday.

She had been trying to flee Lebanon for the last week and was given short notice of her place on the plane.

Hanan told the BBC it was “very tough” to leave her family behind, not knowing when they will meet again.