Image source, EPA

At least 100,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria to escape recent Israeli air strikes, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi says, external.

"The outflow continues," he says, adding that UN personnel are providing assistance at four border crossings.

That is an update on figures we brought you yesterday, which reported close to 80,000 had fled to Syria in the past seven days.

Of those, 36,000 were Syrian and 41,300 were Lebanese, according to Lebanese Minister Nasser Yassin.

We're expecting to hear from Hezbollah's deputy chief at around 10:00 BST.

It will be the first such speech from Sheikh Naim Qassem since the militant group's leader - Hassan Nasrallah - was killed by an Israeli strike on Friday.

We'll bring you live updates and analysis, and you can follow along by pressing watch live above.

David Gritten
Middle East reporter

As we just reported, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine says three of its leaders were killed in a strike on Beirut's Kola district.

The PFLP is a left-wing Palestinian armed group, and the second largest faction in the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

The PFLP was formed as a resistance movement after Israel’s occupation of the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war. Combining Arab nationalism with Marxist-Leninist ideology, it saw the destruction of Israel as integral to its struggle to remove Western capitalism from the Middle East.

The group pioneered aircraft hijackings as a high-profile means of drawing attention to their movement. In 1976, the PFLP captured an Air France plane and forced it to fly to Entebbe in Uganda. After a stand-off, Israel launched a dramatic commando raid to rescue nearly 100 hostages.

The PFLP’s armed wing, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, was also behind several suicide attacks during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in the early 2000s.

The group lost ground to Islamist groups like Hamas in recent decades. But it has still continued to carry out attacks in Israel and the West Bank and been involved in firing rockets into Israel from Gaza.

Human Rights Watch says there is strong evidence that PFLP gunmen from Gaza participated in the Hamas-led cross-border attack on southern Israel on 7 October, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

PFLP fighters have also battled Israeli forces during the ensuing war in Gaza, in which more than 41,500 people in the territory have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The PFLP is designated as a terrorist organisation by Israel and the US. Its leader, Ahmed Saadat, is imprisoned in Israel after being convicted of ordering the 2001 murder of Israel's tourism minister.

Image source, Reuter

We have an update now on the strike on Beirut's Kola district that we told you about earlier.

Four people were killed and a further four were injured, Lebanon's health ministry says.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) – a Palestinian militant group – said earlier that three of its leaders were among those killed.

It would appear to be the first Israeli attack in Beirut beyond Hezbollah’s base in the southern suburbs of Dahieh. Israel has not yet commented on the incident.

The big question is what Iran might dopublished at 08:59 British Summer Time 30 September

08:59 BST 30 September

Jeremy Bowen
International Editor

The Middle East region feels as if it is on the edge and the big question is what Iran might do.

Israel almost seems to be taunting it to hit back, in the knowledge that their retaliation would be far stronger, and backed by the Americans.

If you look at it from the Iranian point of view, there’s the US Navy reinforcing Israel in the Mediterranean, Israel in a mood to do damage to its enemies, and thinking it may be in a position to reshape the Middle East.

It is time for tough decisions for all the participants in this. What does Iran do, what does Israel do, and Hezbollah, who have sustained massive losses including their leader and are reeling from this – what do they do?

One thing Iran watchers and some Israelis are warning about is that if the so-called ring of fire – Iran’s build-up of allies and proxies formed over many years – is now shown to be flawed and ineffective, it leaves the question of whether they could decide to develop a nuclear weapon.

It’s possible – they are close to the technical knowledge. If so, and the Americans discovered it, then it could lead to a US bombing campaign against Iran. That’s the kind of wider scenario that people are worried this turbulence could lead to.

What seemed to be the rules of the game have gone. Nobody knows where things are going, and for Israel’s allies, who continue to call for a ceasefire and a diplomatic solution, that level of unpredictability and insecurity is full of dangers and possible mistakes.

Israel’s actions proving enormously popular at homepublished at 08:59 British Summer Time 30 September

08:59 BST 30 September

Jeremy Bowen
International Editor

Israel’s actions are proving enormously popular at home - on news programmes and TV there have been people having celebratory toasts, politicians have been handing out sweets and chocolate to celebrate to say this is a great day, there have been singalongs on TV.

So there is this feeling in Israel that they have scored a mighty victory and they now have the opportunity to reshape things.

However, if you consider that their strategic goal with Hezbollah is to get the more than 60,000 people in northern Israel back to the towns they have been forced to leave, killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah does not bring them any closer to that.

Hezbollah are still firing rockets and although they are not causing huge amounts of damage to Israeli targets, people cannot return to their homes while that continues.

So the question is what does Israel do next – one possibility is a ground invasion into southern Lebanon and I would say that is quite likely.

Image source, EPA

• Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike on Friday that, Israel said, also killed 20 other key figures in the group - the Iran-backed group confirmed the leader's death the next day
• A senior general in Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, Abbas Nilforoushan, was also killed in the strike, Iran state media said
• US President Joe Biden described the strike as a "measure of justice" for victims of Nasrallah, but Iran’s supreme leader has said his death "will not go unavenged"
• Iran's leader, Ali Khamenei, was also reportedly moved to a secure location
• Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon was reported throughout the weekend, with Israel saying it killed additional senior figures from the militant group
• Lebanese officials said more than 100 people were killed on Sunday, bringing the death toll from the past two weeks to more than 1,000
• Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Israeli air strikes may have displaced as many as one million people, describing it as possibly the largest displacement in its history
• Israel also targeted another Iranian-backed group, the Houthis, in Yemen, claiming they were responding to attacks the group had carried out against it

You can read more about how the conflict is affecting people in Lebanon in this piece from our senior international correspondent Orla Guerin which was also published over the weekend.

Image source, Reuters

We've just received reports of a suspected Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs.

Eyewitnesses are reporting seeing smoke rising over buildings, according to the Reuters news agency.

In the above picture - taken from a Reuters live stream of Beirut's southern suburbs - you can see faint plumes of smoke in the upper-left corner.

The Israeli military has not yet commented on the apparent strike.

We're trying to gather more details on this. Stick with us.

Palestinian militant group Hamas says Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin, the group's leader in Lebanon, has been killed along with some family members in an Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon.

Hamas says he was killed in a strike "on his home in the Al-Bass camp in south Lebanon". The state-run Lebanese National News Agency reported an air strike on the camp near the southern city of Tyre.

Although Hamas is based in Gaza - where Israel has been fighting it since the 7 October attacks - it also has a presence in Lebanon.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are backed and funded by Iran.

We're seeing images now from Kola, where an attack on an apartment left the building with a gaping hole.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) – a Palestinian militant group – says three of its leaders were killed in the strike overnight.

Israel has not commented on it.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Israel's military says it carried out air strikes in the Bekaa region, east Lebanon, overnight.

The strikes targeted dozens of rocket launchers and buildings used by Hezbollah to store weapons, the Israel Defense Forces says.

The IDF says it also targeted military buildings used by Hezbollah in various parts of southern Lebanon.

In an earlier update, the military said that it had successfully intercepted a "suspicious aerial target" that had crossed the border from Lebanon.

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Beirut

Israel seems to be expanding its campaign against Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, and in the Middle East, which is likely to renew fears of a wider regional conflict.

As its campaign against the Shia movement Hezbollah continues, an apartment building was hit in Beirut’s Kola area - a mainly Sunni Muslim part of the city - overnight.

This appears to be the first Israeli attack in Beirut beyond Hezbollah’s base in the southern suburbs of Dahieh.

This is a busy neighbourhood, on the road that connects the airport to central Beirut, the Hamra and Ashrafieh districts. It could signal that Israel will target not only Hezbollah leaders, which it has done with great success, but other enemies too, no matter where they are.

The militant group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine says three of its leaders were killed. Hours later, Hamas said its leader in Lebanon, Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin, was killed along with family members in an Israeli strike in the south of the country.

And, perhaps in attempt to prevent further attacks from the Houthis in Yemen, who have been firing missiles at Israel, Israeli air strikes hit their infrastructure in the city of Hudaydah last night.

Meanwhile, there are growing signs that an Israeli ground invasion of southern Lebanon could be imminent, which will probably worsen an already critical situation.

Across the country, hospitals are struggling to cope with the sheer number of casualties from Israeli air strikes, and shelters are under pressure amid a growing number of displaced residents.

The prime minister, Najib Mikati, said as many as one million people might have already fled their homes, calling it the largest displacement in Lebanon’s history.

Ben Hatton
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

We're restarting our live coverage as Israel appears to be expanding its campaign against Iranian-backed groups across the Middle East, with cross-border strikes with Hezbollah in Lebanon continuing.

Lebanese authorities said at least 105 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Sunday, with 359 people injured.

Its prime minister said on Sunday that the ongoing conflict may have already forced as many as one million people from their homes across the country.

Overnight, an apartment building was hit in the Kola district of Beirut – it appears to be the first Israeli attack in the centre of Beirut, with previous strikes targeting Hezbollah bases in the southern suburbs.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) – which the US and EU consider a terrorist organisation, but which is also a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, a coalition recognised at the UN as the official representative of the Palestinians – says three of its leaders were killed in the strike.

On Sunday, Israel also launched airstrikes against the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. The Houthi-run health ministry said at least four were killed and 29 injured in air strikes on the port of Hudaydah.

Israel said the strikes were responding to Houthi attacks on Israel.

We'll be providing updates and analysis throughout the day.

Israel's military says it carried out further air strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Sunday, as well as hitting two locations in Yemen that it said were Houthi military sites.

Lebanese authorities say more than 50 people were killed in the strikes, while the Houthis have vowed that a "response is inevitable" against Israel.

Following the strikes in Yemen, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said "no place is too far" for Israel's pursuit of its objectives, while US President Joe Biden said a wider regional conflict "has to be avoided".

We're pausing our live coverage for today, but we'll be back tomorrow to bring you the latest from the region.

You can read the latest from the ground in Lebanon and the international response to the conflict here.

In a statement issued just moments ago, Saudi Arabia says it stands in support of Lebanon and calls for the preservation of the country's "sovereignty and territorial integrity".

The Saudi foreign ministry said it had watched the events of recent days in Lebanon with "grave concern", though it made no made mention of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

It also called on the international community to work to protect regional security and minimise the humanitarian consequences of the conflict.

Orla Guerin
BBC international correspondent in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon

Image source, Goktay Koraltan / BBC

In the hills of the Bekaa Valley - as in swathes of Lebanon - death can come from the sky these days, at any moment.

Israel has been bombing the area through the day, with more 30 air strikes in just an hour.

Dozens are confirmed dead. Others are in critical condition in hospital, after Israeli attacks earlier this week.

Noor Mossawi is among them. The six-year-old is lying unconscious in a paediatric intensive care unit, in Rayak Hospital, with bandages wrapped around her fractured skull.

Her mother Rima is sitting by her bedside, holding a copy of the Quran and praying.

She tells us her daughter is very bright and very sociable.

"She creates such a fun atmosphere at home. The house feels empty when she's not around. She loves meeting new people." All that changed last Monday, with an Israeli strike.

A missile left her twin brother Mohammed lightly wounded, and Noor fighting for her life.

More from Orla here.

Francesca Gillett
Live editor

There's been a series of major developments in the Middle East today. If you're just joining us, here's the latest:

Israel attacks Houthis: Yemen's Houthis say at least four people have been killed and 33 others wounded after a series of strikes on power plants and a sea port in western Yemen. Video shows a huge explosion at the port. Israel says it targeted the sites in response to recent attacks from the Houthis (they had fired missiles towards Israel) as well as to destroy facilities being used to transport Iranian weapons

Houthis vow revenge: The Houthis' supreme political council calls the strikes "brutal aggression", the Houthi-run Saba News Agency reports. The Houthis also say a "response is inevitable"

Strikes continue in Lebanon: Israel's military says it has continued to target Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon and further into the country. On Sunday evening it said it had launched an attack on 120 sites

More than 50 killed: The Lebanese health ministry says at least 32 people died in attacks in the southern Ain al-Delb area and 21 more in the eastern Baalbek-Hemel region in the Bekaa Valley. Separately, it says 14 paramedics have been killed in two days. More than 1,000 have been killed in the past two weeks, they say

A million displaced: Lebanon's prime minister Najib Mikati says up to a million people have had to flee their homes. Our correspondent in Beirut has been speaking to some of them who are sheltering in a school. One family says they left home with no belongings and then 30 minutes later their neighbourhood was hit

Nasrallah's body recovered: Hezbollah says the remains of leader Hassan Nasrallah have been recovered from the huge crater left by Friday's Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut

Nafiseh Kohnavard
BBC Persian Middle East correspondent, in Beirut

"Just as we cry for children in Gaza, we cry for our own children too. Just as the Israelis cry and are afraid for their children, so do we," says Um Ahmad.

She and her family fled from a tiny village near Tyre, southern Lebanon. Their refuge is a school that is now a shelter for hundreds of people who fled to Beirut.

Ahmad says a building next to their home was hit in a strike. “I don’t know how we fled. I just grabbed my grandchildren and ran. A part of our house was in flames," she says.

As they drove away, she saw their house also levelled down. "At least we made sure that we don’t have a home to go back." Ahmad says, while trying to not to break down in tears.

By the end of our chat Ahmad’s husband, Barakat, joins us. He blames the politicians for this war without mentioning Hezbollah. "Listen, I know we should have supported people of Gaza but that wasn’t our war," he says. "We of course want to protect our land but for us. For the Lebanese. We should fight for ourselves."

Like many other families here this is not the first time they are displaced. In 2006 and in 1982 they lost their homes too. Barakat says he and his family are so tired and don’t want war.

"We don’t wish for Israeli children to die nor our children to die, we should live in peace."

Image source, Getty Images

US President Joe Biden says an all-out war in the Middle East must be avoided.

Speaking to reporters at an air force base in Delaware, he says he would be talking to the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu but did not say when.

"I'll tell you what I say to him when I talk to him," he says.

Asked if it was possible to avoid a regional conflict, he replies: "It has to be. It really has to be avoided."

Joya Berbery
BBC Arabic, reporting from Beirut

Have you stocked up on food supplies? Bread, flour, canned goods? Baby formula? These are questions circulating among many Lebanese, as a large number of them are stocking up on food and medicine, fearing shortages in case Israel targets Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport, Lebanon’s only airport.

It seems that what happened during the July war in 2006, when the country faced severe shortages of food supplies, is still fresh in the minds of the Lebanese. At that time, Israel bombed Beirut’s airport and put it out of service, while also imposing a strict blockade on seaports.

It was notable today what Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said regarding consumer protection.

Mikati mentioned that some are exploiting the situation to raise prices, and in response, the ministry of economy has been asked to take strict measures to pursue anyone trying to take advantage of the current circumstances. As for Beirut's international airport and seaports, Mikati affirmed their continued operation and safety.