The Israeli military says it has intercepted a number of missiles launched from Lebanon this afternoon.

The Israel Defense Forces say "about 25 launches" were identified following warnings in the area of Upper Galilee just after 14:30 local time (12:30 BST) - some of these were intercepted and "hits were identified" with no casualties.

An earlier update said "five launches were identified" from Lebanese territory after warnings shortly after 14:00 in Upper Galilee and central Galilee areas - some were intercepted and others fell in open areas.

The Israeli military add that as of 15:00 "approximately 60 projectiles" have crossed into Israel today from Lebanon.

Earlier, the Israeli medical emergency service said a 40-year-old man needed hospital treatment for a shrapnel wound following sirens in Upper Galilee.

Image source, Reuters

With President Biden's Middle East envoy currently in Beirut, the US is ramping up diplomatic efforts to revive ceasefire talks in both Gaza and Lebanon.

America's top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, is heading to the Middle East later today for the eleventh trip he's made since the war began more than a year ago.

He will discuss the importance of bringing the war in Gaza to an end, securing the release of all hostages, and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people.

Blinken will also continue discussions on planning for a post-conflict period, according to a statement from the US State Department.

He will also address the need to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in a way that fully implements UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and makes sure civilians on both sides of the Blue Line - a UN-mandated boundary between Israel and Lebanon - can return to their homes, the statement says.

In an earlier post, which we have now deleted, we referenced a statement which was attributed to Hezbollah-affiliated Al Qard al Hassan bank. It was circulated on Lebanese social media following the airstrikes targeting their branches.

The statement said people's deposits with the bank were “safe”.

The BBC has been in touch with a Hezbollah press officer who denied Al Qard al Hassan bank was issuing any statements at all.

“This isn't true. Neither the association, nor Hezbollah have issued any statements regarding yesterday's airstrikes, so far,” the press officer said.

Jonathan Head
Reporting from Beirut

Image source, EPA

US President Joe Biden’s Middle East envoy Amos Hochstein has arrived in Beirut in an attempt to find a negotiated end to the war between Hezbollah and Israel.

It is Hochstein's first visit to Lebanon since Israel escalated its military campaign against Hezbollah four weeks ago.

On his previous trips Hochstein has tried, and failed, to prevent the war which has inflicted a heavy toll on people and infrastructure in Lebanon.

Arriving in Beirut, Hochstein warned it was not in Lebanon’s interest to have its future linked to regional conflicts - a reference to Hezbollah’s close ties to Iran - and its decision to support Hamas in its fight with Israel.

He also said a return to the old status quo, where the Lebanese army, backed by a UN force, was supposed to maintain the peace along the border with Israel, was not sufficient.

Israel has long complained that this formula failed to prevent Hezbollah from building a formidable military presence in southern Lebanon and firing rockets into northern Israel, the reason it says it started this campaign.

But the two sides are still a long way apart; it is not clear that either Israel or Hezbollah are ready to stop fighting yet.

Which sites did Israel hit in bank branch attacks?published at 13:21 British Summer Time 21 October 2024

13:21 BST 21 October 2024

By Shayan Sardarizadeh and Richard Irvine-Brown

So far, we are certain of videos from three locations which show damage in Beirut overnight. These are all sites associated with the Al Qard Al Hassan bank.

Overall, at least 16 strikes were reported by Lebanese media, and more than 20 evacuation notices were posted by the Israeli Defense Forces.

We’ve verified the footage by matching satellite imagery at the bank's listed addresses, to the buildings and road layouts visible in the videos posted online. In videos from two locations, we can see the bank’s name on signage.

Of the confirmed videos of strikes on Beirut, the earliest is in Chiyah, the most northerly of the three points on the map. It shows a building collapsing. The destruction of the site was confirmed by another video posted this morning - which we located by identifying two nearby mosques and a cemetery.

The other confirmed videos of strikes are in two densely populated southern suburbs of Beirut - Bourj al Barajneh and Laylaki - close to the city’s international airport.

From the earliest copies we’ve been able to trace, all three were first posted within a 20 minute window, just before midnight local time.

They were then quickly shared across social media platforms - we found about 100 copies of these videos shared over the next 90 minutes.

Image source, Reuters

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) is reporting that the Israeli army "blew up houses" in the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab, on the border with Israel.

The NNA also says that "enemy warplanes raided the area" between Haboush and Arabsalim, further north.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it is conducting "limited, localised, targeted" raids in southern Lebanon.

It says the operation involves using "drones with explosive missiles", which it says have struck Hezbollah command posts.

The IDF also says an Israeli aircraft struck a "weapons storage facility" in the region, a site they say was used to aim missiles at Israel.

It’s almost 12:15 in the UK, and 14:15 in Israel and Lebanon. Here are the latest developments:

• Former Israeli war cabinet minister and opposition leader Benny Gantz calls Israel's attacks on Hezbollah-linked bank branches "important and welcome", reiterating Israel's aim to dismantle what he calls "the Iranian system"

• In Gaza, seven people were killed in an Israeli operation at the Jabalia refugee camp in the north, according to local media and a local journalist who spoke to the BBC
• In southern Gaza, the Palestinian Civil Defence says at least three bodies have been recovered after Israeli strikes

• Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's wife, Sara, says the drone attack on their home over the weekend was "an attack on all of us, on the people of Israel, on the values ​​and way of our people"

Image source, WAEL HAMZEH/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

We reported earlier on Israeli strikes in northern Gaza. Now in Rafah, in the south, the Palestinian Civil Defence says at least three bodies have been recovered after Israeli strikes.

The bodies were taken from the areas of Khirbet al-Adas and Moraj, it adds.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continues to run ground operations in the area, and says last night it "eliminated a number of terrorists".

Last week, the IDF killed the leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, in a ground raid in Rafah.

Image source, EPA

Let's now return to a story from the weekend, when Hezbollah reportedly tried to attack to attack Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's home with a drone.

The prime minister called it an assassination attempt on him and his wife. Now Netanyahu's wife, Sara, has reacted publicly for the first time.

Thanking people in Israel and across the world for their support, she says: "The attempt to kill the prime minister of Israel and me is not just a personal attempt - it is an attack on all of us, on the people of Israel, on the values ​​and way of our people.

"Our hearts are with our soldiers and with our heroes, who defend the country non-stop, with unparalleled dedication and courage."

Let's return to Lebanon now, after Israel carried out strikes on bank branches linked to Hezbollah.

Former Israeli war cabinet minister and opposition leader Benny Gantz says the attacks, which happened in Beirut and elsewhere in Lebanon, are "important and welcome".

In a statement on X, external, Gantz claims in recent years Iran has financed Hezbollah with more than half a billion dollars a year - which he calls an "astronomical sum in a country in economic crisis like Lebanon".

He continues: "The result is that while soldiers in the [regular] Lebanese army are suffering from a lack of food - a terrorist from the Radwan [Hezbollah] force receives a supply of hot food for himself and his family."

Gantz reiterates Israel's aim to dismantle what he calls "the Iranian system", and adds: "The message is clear: we will cripple you anywhere, in any way."

Jonah Fisher
Reporting from Jerusalem

The United Nations says Israel’s actions in northern Gaza are leading to forced displacement and "may be causing the death and destruction" of the local population.

In a statement, the UN’s Human Rights office, external said in the last two weeks measures taken by the Israeli military, such as stopping the entry of "essential supplies" from 1 October to 14 October, had made life in northern Gaza "impossible".

Israel has called on all civilians to leave northern Gaza and says it is targeting Hamas fighters.

But the UN says constant attacks have made it "very dangerous for people to flee" and that all three hospitals were running short of supplies and fuel.

Image source, EPA

An Israeli operation at the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza has killed seven people today, according to local media and a journalist on the ground speaking to the BBC.

After Israeli forces ordered an evacuation from a school in the centre of the camp, seven people were reportedly killed by artillery fire, with their bodies taken to the Kamal Adwan hospital nearby.

The IDF said earlier it "destroyed terrorist infrastructures and tunnel shafts in the Jabalia region and eliminated dozens of terrorists in the past day".

Israeli forces have carried out operations on the densely-populated Jabalia refugee camp for weeks, saying Hamas uses the area as a base.

Yesterday, one of the most senior IDF soldiers to have died in the past year was killed near the camp.

Colonel Ehsan Daqsa was hit by an explosive device on Sunday while out of his tank, the IDF says.

Daqsa was a highly-decorated commander and his death was marked by Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Image source, Getty Images

Our coverage today has been focusing on Israel's strikes in Lebanon overnight.

Meanwhile in Gaza, Israel's bombardment has not stopped. On Saturday, the Hamas-run health ministry says at least 87 people were killed in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza, when a residential square was hit.

Earlier, Israel claimed lower numbers published by Hamas had been "exaggerated", and that its strike was on a "Hamas terror target". It also says it is doing "everything possible" to avoid civilian harm.

Residents who survived the Israeli attack tell the BBC's Gaza Today it was "a terrifying night" that was "catastrophic in every sense of the word".

Engy Abdel A'al, who was in a house opposite a residential block that was "levelled", says they had "miraculously survived although a large concrete block fell near us."

Another woman adds: "We were showered with stones when suddenly large concrete blocks fell.

"Afterwards, the Israeli forces kept firing tank shells for a long time to the extent that we were suffocating from the dust and smoke and no one could see the other."

Ahmed says he and other neighbours tried to help the emergency services transport bodies.

"We tried to retrieve as many people as possible, but most of the people we pulled out were all burned."

• Israel targeted branches of Al-Qard Al-Hassan - a US-sanctioned financial association linked to Hezbollah - in a wave of strikes across Lebanon overnight

• Israel claims AQAH "directly funds Hezbollah’s terror activities, including the purchase of weapons and payments to operatives in Hezbollah’s military wing"
• The UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis described "widespread panic" in Beirut as Israel issued warnings before hitting buildings
• Lebanese state media reported at least 11 strikes on Dahieh in the south of Beirut, three in the country’s south, and two in the Bekaa region
• In Beirut, Israeli strikes hit a location near the country’s only functioning airport, minutes before a plane was due to arrive

• Elsewhere, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the THAAD anti-missile system the US sent to Israel is now in place

Image source, STR/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the anti-missile system that the US sent to Israel is now in place.

Austin would not say if the system is operational, but, speaking during a trip to Ukraine, said: "We have the ability to put it into operation very quickly and we're on pace with our expectations."

Officials say the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, known as THAAD, will bolster Israeli air defences.

It includes the deployment of about 100 US troops. Read more about the THAAD system here.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement this morning, saying its air force targeted "dozens of facilities and sites used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization to finance its terrorist activities".

It says the Al-Qard Al-Hassan "directly funds Hezbollah's terror activities, including the purchase weapons and payments to operatives in Hezbollah's military wing".

Before the strikes, the IDF says it took "numerous steps" to avoid harming civilians, "including advance warnings".

• You can read more about AQAH in our earlier post

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says 25 projectiles have been fired from Lebanon into the country today.

"Some were intercepted, fallen projectiles were identified. No injuries were reported," the IDF says.

Earlier, it issued multiple alerts of sirens sounding across northern Israel.

Beirut is no longer "in flames", as Israel's foreign minister wrote recently (see previous post).

But the damage caused by the latest Israeli strikes is clear in these pictures from al-Shiyah in central Beirut.

Image source, REX/Shutterstock

Image source, REX/Shutterstock

Image source, REX/Shutterstock

Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz says the overnight attacks on Lebanon was a "wide-scale Israeli attack" which "targeted Hezbollah's financial infrastructure".

In a statement on X the minister says:, external "Beirut in flames. Massive fires were seen above Beirut as over 15 buildings were struck following evacuation warnings to residents.

"Hezbollah has paid and will continue to pay a heavy price for its attacks on northern Israel and its rocket fire.

"We will keep striking the Iranian proxy until it collapses."

As we've reported, Israel carried out more air strikes in Beirut and across Lebanon overnight, targeting branches of the AQAH bank.

Lebanon's state-run news agency NNA reported strikes on the bank's branch near Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut.

Until the strikes, at around 23:45 local time, the airport had been operating normally. A flight from Dubai, due to land at 23:59, arrived 17 minutes late.