Israel tells the US it plans to launch a limited ground incursion into Lebanon as soon as Monday, a US official says
Hezbollah's deputy leader says it's ready for an Israeli ground offensive, as Israel continues air strikes across Lebanon
It's the first speech by a high-ranking official since Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Naim Qassem says the battle "may be long"
In Lebanon, officials say more than 1,000 have been killed in the past two weeks, while up to a million people may now be displaced
The Israeli military says it is conducting "targeted strikes" on buildings in southern Beirut.
Weapons "belonging to the terrorist organisation Hezbollah" are being stored beneath the civilian buildings being hit, the Israel Defense Forces says.
We can bring you some more detail now about the warning Israel has issued to residents of some parts of southern Beirut.
The IDF has ordered the residents of one building in the al-Laylaki area, as well as two other structures in the al-Hadath neighbourhood, to evacuate.
Spokesman Rr Adm Daniel Hagari says Hezbollah constructed the buildings with "designated underground spaces for storing strategic weapons, with the buildings above acting as a shield".
"In a short time, we will attack the weapons stored beneath the buildings," he says.
"The explosion, because of the missiles, may damage the structures and could potentially cause them to collapse."
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rr Adm Daniel Hagari has just provided an update on the series of airstrikes that hit Beirut this afternoon.
He says it was a "very accurate" strike on Hezbollah headquarters, and the military is checking to see what the results were.
Hagari turns to Beirut airport, which he says "will not be allowed to be used for shipping weapons". It must remain a civilian airport, and Israeli planes are overheard, he says.
He's also reiterating the warning to residents of three buildings in Beirut to evacuate the area, that we brought you earlier. Hagari adds there are weapons stored beneath them
There’s no change in the guidelines to keep Israeli civilians safe, he concludes.
The Israeli military has provided an update on the barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon towards northern Israel that we reported earlier.
A total of 65 missiles were identified crossing into Israeli territory, some of which were intercepted, the IDF says.
Some of the missiles fell in the city of Safed, it confirms, where a house and car was hit in a civilian area.
There are no reports of casualties.
The Israeli military has just ordered residents of some areas of southern Beirut to evacuate.
The order relates to the one building in the al-Laylaki area, as well as two other structures in the al-Hadath neighbourhood.
"You are located near Hezbollah interests and for your safety and the safety of your loved ones, you are obliged to evacuate the buildings immediately," spokesman Avichay Adraee says in a post on social media., external
Adraee adds that residents of the three buildings, as well as those adjacent to them, should move no less than 500m away.
We've just been listening to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaking about the crisis in the Middle East from New York.
Israel's objective in Lebanon is "an important and legitimate one," he says.
"It's creating an environment that's secure enough to enable people to return home."
"Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorism," he adds, although "the way it does so matters".
"The choices that all parties make in the coming days will determine which path this region is on, with profound consequences for its people now and possibly years to come."
He says the path forward is through diplomacy.
Image source, EPALebanon's caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, says these latest strikes on Beirut show Israel "does not care" about efforts to bring about a ceasefire.
The comments come in a statement from the press office of Mikati released earlier today, reports Reuters.
Mikati is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. The US and its allies have called for a 21-day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border.
Israeli forces have just confirmed another series of attacks in Lebanon in the last hour, this time targeting weapons launchers and storage sites.
Fighter jets attacked "deep in Lebanon and southern Lebanon", the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says, hitting Hezbollah targets including launchers that were "directed towards Israeli civilians".
The IDF will continue to "attack, damage and degrade the military capabilities and infrastructure" of Hezbollah, the statement says.
The IDF has just issued an update on the recent barrage fired at Safed, saying a "direct hit from a Hezbollah rocket was identified" on a house and car.
It adds that the property struck was on Menahem Begin Street, describing this as a "civilian area that you can reach without IDF coordination".
There are no reports of casualties and firefighters are working to extinguish a fire caused by the attack, which you can see below:
Image source, IDFAir raid alerts have been sounding in multiple areas of northern Israel, the Israel Defense Forces say.
The IDF says among the areas attacked include Nahariya and surrounding areas, after earlier reporting alerts for the city of Safed.
Hezbollah says it targeted Safed with rockets "in defence of Lebanon and its people, and in response to the barbaric Israeli violation of cities, villages and civilians".
Israeli police say there have been no reports of casualties, but add there has been "heavy damage to property" in the city.
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, says a "meeting of bad people" was under way at the site of the air strikes in Beirut.
Danon won't confirm whether Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was at the meeting, or whether he was targeted, although he calls him a "bad actor" and a "terrorist".
Nasrallah has "blood on his hands", Danon says.
In the past hour, the UK's Foreign Office has released a statement, urging all British citizens in Lebanon to "leave now".
"You should take the next available flight," the office says, adding that it is working to "increase capacity and secure seats" on commercial flights out of Lebanon.
The foreign office also requested British citizens living in Lebanon to register with them so the latest information can be shared.
Jeremy Bowen
International Editor, in Jerusalem
Big decisions lie ahead.
First of all from the point of view of Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was presumably the target today and who has lost nearly all of his top lieutenants.
He’s going to have to decide what he does with his organisation’s remaining arsenal. Do they use it against Israel in the way that many people in Israel fear?
And the Israelis have to decide what happens next. They have already talked about a ground operation against Lebanon, and while they haven’t yet mobilised all the reserves they might need, that is something that is absolutely on their agenda.
So those diplomats in the West among Israel’s allies, who are hoping to try to calm things, I think will now be looking at events with a lot of dismay and also a sense of powerlessness.
And all those concerns about the prospects of this war spreading throughout the Middle East will be in foreign ministries not just here but across the world. Israel believes it has the upper hand and it wants to push home its advantage.
The Israeli defence minister says he "closely followed" the latest strike on Beirut from Israel's air force headquarters.
Yoav Gallant says Israel will "continue to hit Hezbollah, everywhere, at any time until the residents of the north return home safely".
Gallant watched the strike as it was carried out in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh, alongside senior members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
An IDF statement says Gallant will receive "ongoing operational updates".
Image source, Ariel HermoniBBC Persian's Middle East correspondent Nafiseh Kohnavard was filming with her team in Beirut as the series of air strikes hit.
In the video below, she describes scenes of panic following the explosion.
BBC correspondent records moment air strike hits Beirut
It's been three hours since a series of explosions rocked the southern suburbs of Beirut, sending huge plumes of smoke into the air.
Key details are still unclear, but here is what we know at this stage:
Here's a map showing the location of the strike this afternoon:
We're now getting the first reaction to today's strike from Hezbollah's sponsor, Iran.
The attack was a "dangerous game-changing escalation" that would "bring its perpetrator an appropriate punishment", the country's Beirut embassy says in a statement, quoted by Reuters.
Hezbollah is part of the so-called "axis of resistance" of Iran-backed organisations across the Middle East which have targeted Israel in support of Hamas. The groups are armed, funded and trained by Tehran.
Our Middle East correspondent Hugo Bachega sent us this video a few minutes ago, as the BBC's Beirut team attempt to access the scene of the strikes in the south of the city.
He says a group of men stopped them from filming - indicative of the tense feeling in the Lebanese capital.
Watch his report:
The US was not involved and had no advance warning of Friday's strike on the Hezbollah HQ in Beirut, our partners CBS News are reporting, quoting Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh.
However, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to his Israeli opposite number Yoav Gallant this morning by phone, Singh says.
She gave no further information on the operation, or on whether Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was dead or alive. Hezbollah sources are saying that he is alive and safe.
We've just received this short clip from the scene in Beirut, showing excavators searching through the rubble in the dark: