Fifteen people were killed after Israeli strikes in Lebanon this morning, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Most people were killed in towns clustered in southern Lebanon. The ministry has been giving its updates focusing on the death toll in different towns.

In Tebnine, two people were killed early this morning, and three people were killed in Bint Jbeil, in the south of the country. Another four in Joun, located in the Chouf district, central Lebanon.

Three more were killed in Ain Qana, also in southern Lebanon, and earlier we told you three people died in the town of Al-Maaysra in Keserwan, north of Beirut.

Dozens of people were also injured in the strikes, according to the health ministry.

Image source, EPA

We can now bring you some reaction from Pope Francis, who has called on the international community to act to stop the "terrible escalation" taking place in Lebanon.

Speaking during his weekly audience in St Peter's Square, Pope Francis said he was "saddened by the news coming from Lebanon, where intense bombings have caused death and destruction in recent days".

"It is unacceptable. I express my closeness to the Lebanese people, who have already suffered too much in the recent past."

His comments come after the Lebanese health ministry said Israel struck the Shia town of Maaysrah earlier today, which is located in mountains of the Keserwan region, that has a sizeable Christian population - about 40km (24 miles) north of Beirut.

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Beirut

Image source, Reuters

Today’s attack by Hezbollah, the first time the group targeted Tel Aviv with a missile, could be a message to Israel: they may have been weakened but they remain a threat.

The group has been hit by an unprecedented wave of attacks that severely damaged its ability to operate – but has not stopped its ability to fight.

First, last week, the pagers and walkie-talkie explosions, that limited their communications. Then, an air strike on its stronghold of Dahieh, in southern Beirut, that essentially decimated the chain of command of its main fighting unit, the Radwan Force.

And on Monday, an intense and widespread air campaign targeting positions including rockets launchers and weapons storage sites. The air strikes killed around 500 people, including many civilians, the Lebanese health minister says.

It was the deadliest day in Lebanon since the end of the civil war, in 1990.

Hezbollah has remained defiant, vowing to continue with its attacks, amid speculation that the Israeli strategy could include a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, to create a so-called buffer zone, destroy its infrastructure and push fighters away from the border.

Meanwhile, thousands are still on the move, heading north in search of safety.

Image source, Reuters

A journalist on the ground in Tel Aviv has told us that Hezbollah firing a missile at the city has stoked worry over the possibility of a full-blown war.

The mood in Tel Aviv is "obviously tense and people are nervous" even if locals there are used to sirens sounding off, Allison Kaplan Sommer, a journalist with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, tells the BBC World Service.

Today's events have shown that despite the damage to Hezbollah's weapons, it is still capable of launching missiles with the potential to cause damage, she says.

Still, there is a sense of "determination" that Israel's ongoing campaign against Hezbollah must be "decisive" and proceed "quickly", compared to the one against Hamas, she says.

The Lebanese health ministry has just given an update, saying 10 people are now known to have been killed following Israeli airstrikes.

Four people were killed and seven others were injured in the town of Joun, in central Lebanon, the ministry adds.

Earlier the ministry said six people had died in two other locations.

Image source, Firefighters for Israel

Israeli authorities say there has been "significant property damage" from missile attacks in the area of Safed in northern Israel, and have released these pictures to media.

They say no injuries have been reported so far, but police officers, police bomb disposal units and firefighters are working to secure the sites.

Officials say seven fire crews are also working to put out fires and searching for any victims from the attacks.

Image source, Firefighters for Israel

The Lebanese health ministry says six people have been killed after Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

Three people were killed and thirteen injured in the town of Ain Qana, southern Lebanon, and three more were killed and another nine injured in Al-Maaysra in Keserwan, north of Beirut, the ministry adds.

The Israeli military says it has launched a new wave of strikes in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa area, describing them as "extensive".

We'll continue to bring you the latest on this, as soon as we have it.

Hezbollah has just said it has fired "dozens of missiles" at two areas in Israel, a town called Hatzor and the Dado military base.

Israel has not commented. We will bring you more details as we get them.

Image source, Reuters

On Wednesday Hezbollah sent a ballistic missile into Israel - and millions of israelis heard the sound of that missile being intercepted above Tel Aviv.

The solitary missile would have been launched with the knowledge that it would most likely be shot down - if Hezbollah had sent a barrage of missiles designed to overwhelm defences, resulting in mass casualties, there would have been a devastating response from the Israeli military, says the BBC's Middle East bureau chief Jo Floto.

Still, the missile symbolises a significant escalation in the conflict, our correspondent says. Israel has said it is the first time ever a Hezbollah missile has reached Tel Aviv.

The Mossad intelligence base on the edge of the city has been targeted by Hezbollah before, with drones and less-precise rocket fire aimed at it in August. Yemen's Houthi rebels also directed a missile there earlier this month.

British military teams are heading to Cyprus, which would serve as a key base for any evacuation efforts of British nationals in Lebanon if Beirut airport is unable to provide commercial flights out.

The Foreign Office says that around 700 more troops are being deployed to the Mediterranean island, which is about 300km (186 miles) north-west of Lebanon.

The UK already has a significant military presence in Cyprus, including the Royal Air Force base Akrotiri on the island's southern coast and Royal Navy ships RFA Mounts Bay and HMS Duncan, which have remained in the eastern Mediterranean to support British nationals and allies over the summer.

As we've mentioned earlier, the government says that any Britons in Lebanon should leave the country while commercial flights are still available and is advising against all travel to the region.

The Foreign Office is not advising against travel to Cyprus.

Aside from a ballistic missile launched by Hezbollah on Wednesday morning, some smaller projectiles were also fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory, according to Israeli army officials.

"This morning numerous projectiles were fired from Tebnine in southern Lebanon toward Wadi Ara," the Israel Defense Forces announced earlier on Wednesday.

It also said the air force had struck dozens of weapons storage facilities belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Shortly, it issued a video showing a strike on the launcher from which the projectiles were fired.

Hezbollah has been firing projectiles into Israel on a near-daily basis for almost a year.

Image source, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES

Hezbollah sends a missile - and a message - to Israelpublished at 08:58 British Summer Time 25 September

08:58 BST 25 September

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Beirut

In launching this missile towards Tel Aviv, Hezbollah is looking to show Israel it still has the capacity to attack, in spite of the massive setbacks the armed group has suffered over the past week.

From Israel's point of view, the firing of a missile towards its largest population centre will be seen as further reason to continue this offensive against the Lebanese armed group.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people in southern Lebanon have already started fleeing their homes for shelters across the country.

I met some of them in the shelters in Beirut. Few were able to take any of their belongings and many may never be able to return home.

Many in Lebanon are fearing the beginning of a much wider-ranging confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah - that could include a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

The UK government has urged its citizens to leave Lebanon now, as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalates.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK is ramping up contingency plans. "It is important that we’ve been really, really clear: now is the time to leave," he told reporters earlier.

There are an estimated 10,000 UK citizens in Lebanon.

"Events in the past hours and days have demonstrated how volatile this situation is, which is why our message is clear, British nationals should leave now," defence secretary John Healy said in a statement from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Earlier, a senior government official told the BBC's political editor Chris Mason that commercial flights were still leaving Lebanon and British nationals should book their seats.

Israeli fighter jets have intercepted a drone that was crossing into Israel from Syria on Wednesday morning, according to the Israeli military.

The interception took place over the Sea of Galilee and no damage or injuries were reported, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

The announcement came shortly after news broke that the IDF had also intercepted a surface-to-surface missile targeting Tel Aviv that had been fired from Lebanon.

The ballistic missile launched by Hezbollah on Wednesday morning "is the first time ever a Hezbollah missile reached the Tel Aviv area", an Israeli army spokesman has told news agency AFP.

The Lebanese armed group says it was targeting Israeli intelligence headquarters, which is near Tel Aviv. The missile was intercepted by Israel, which reported no casualties or injuries.

Tel Aviv and the neighbourhoods surrounding the city is Israel's most populous urban area.

Israel's military says it has taken out the launcher from which the missile was fired, near Nafakhiyeh in Lebanon.

It also says it struck a series of other Hezbollah targets, claiming to have hit infrastructure, weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers.

It is distributing a video which it says shows the strike in Lebanon.

Image source, Israel Defense Forces

In a statement, Hezbollah has said it launched a ballistic missile towards Tel Aviv at 6:30am today - in support of the "valiant and honourable resistance" of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and "in defence of Lebanon and its people".

The spokesperson said they had targeted the headquarters of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, claiming it is "responsible for assassinating leaders and blowing up pagers and wireless devices".

Israel has been blamed for the attacks which set off the fighting last week, but it has not claimed responsibility for them.

Israeli media outlet Haaretz Ynet has said this is the first time ever that Hezbollah has targeted the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.

The Israeli military says air raid sirens sounded around Tel Aviv and central Israel, but the missile was intercepted and there were no reports of damage or casualties. It has released this map, saying these were locations where the sirens went off:

Image source, Israel Defence Forces/X

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Beirut

Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and central Israel this morning, with the country's military saying it intercepted a missile that was fired from Lebanon.

This appears to be the first time ever that Hezbollah has targeted Tel Aviv with a missile, and comes as Israel continues with its airstrikes against the armed group.

The Israeli military said the surface-to-surface missile was intercepted, and there were no reports of damage or casualties.

This morning, the Israeli military, again, warned residents in Lebanon to stay away from Hezbollah positions as its airstrikes would continue. Large numbers are fleeing southern Lebanon, trying to seek safety elsewhere in the country.

Hezbollah has confirmed that another of its senior commanders was killed by an Israeli attack on its stronghold of Dahieh, here in Beirut. Ibrahim Qubaisi was said to lead the group’s missile and rocket force.

Speaking in New York, the Lebanese foreign minister urged the United States to push for a de-escalation of hostilities, saying Washington was the key to his country’s salvation.

Biden struggles to contain conflict as Israel and Hezbollah on the brinkpublished at 06:03 British Summer Time 25 September

06:03 BST 25 September

Tom Bateman
Reporting from the UN headquarters in New York

Image source, Reuters

US President Joe Biden has spent nearly a year vowing his determination to prevent the war in Gaza engulfing the wider Middle East. On Tuesday, he repeated that resolve in his last ever United Nations speech as president, as he addressed the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“A diplomatic solution is still possible. In fact, remains the only path to lasting security,” Biden said.

“Full scale war is not in anyone’s interest,” he added.

But the Israel-Lebanon crisis is now on the brink.

And Biden’s calls for restraint from the podium of the UN, like his pleas for Israel and Hamas to finally reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal, are being heard in the hall but not in the region.

Read more from our US State Department correspondent Tom Batemanhere.