We now have more on the air raid sirens in the Tel Aviv area, which we reported a short while ago.

Hezbollah says it launched "Fadi-4" rockets at the headquarters of Mossad and Unit 8200, which are in the Tel Aviv area.

Mossad is the international arm of Israel's intelligence service, and is said to be behind the explosions of pagers and walkie talkies in Lebanon last month. Israel has not commented on this claim.

Unit 8200 is the Israeli military's central intelligence gathering body and is often likened to the US National Security Agency (NSA).

There have been no reports of damage to the headquarters.

We are receiving images of search and rescue teams in the Palestinian refugee camp, Ain Al Hilweh, in southern Lebanon.

It comes after an Israeli strike on the crowded area, near the city of Sidon, which we covered earlier.

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Orla Guerin
Senior International Correspondent, in southern Lebanon

We are on the road to southern Lebanon, and have passed the city of Sidon, about a 40 minute drive south of Beirut.

The further south we go, the less traffic there is to be seen.

The yellow and green flags of Hezbollah are flying along a stretch of the motorway, and on an overpass just in front of me.

The armed group has been hit hard in the past two weeks and now has to fight Israeli troops on the ground in the south.

An ambulance has just sped past, heading south. A few minutes ago, one passed us on the other side of the road, heading towards Sidon.

Many Lebanese feel that there is now danger in every direction.

A senior security official tells the BBC that Israeli ground forces have only gone as far as "very close walking distance" into Lebanon and so far there have been "no clashes".

"We're talking about targeting those Hezbollah launchpads, the Hezbollah infrastructure right by the communities in northern Israel," the official says.

"I can't give numbers, but I can tell you this is not, not numbers of a large ground invasion," the official says, describing it as "limited" and not like the Israeli operations in Gaza.

More now from Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who says his country is facing "one of the most dangerous phases" in its history.

Around one million people have been displaced across Lebanon since Israeli air strikes began last month, he adds.

"We urgently call for more aid to reinforce our ongoing efforts to provide basic support to displaced civilians," he says.

Mikati was speaking during a meeting with United Nations organisations, during which they launched a humanitarian appeal for more than a $426m (£320m).

Image source, EPA

More now on air raid sirens in Israel, which we covered a short time ago.

The Israel Defence Forces says a number of projectiles have crossed from Lebanon towards the centre of the country, including the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.

Some were intercepted, it says in a statement.

Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service says a man has been injured and that he is "conscious, with a shrapnel wound to the head, in moderate condition".

Will this time be different? We will need to wait and seepublished at 09:36 British Summer Time 1 October

09:36 BST 1 October

Jeremy Bowen
International Editor

The Israeli military may claim that their move into Lebanon is different this time around, but we will need to wait and see.

Hezbollah have, by all accounts, massive tunnelling networks and facilities in south Lebanon, so the decision the Israelis will have to take is: how much is enough?

One of their military intentions when they entered Gaza was to dismantle the Hamas tunnel network and nearly a year later, they haven’t done that.

Israel also has to focus on their strategic objective of getting people back to their homes in the north.

They will argue that this is an important step along the way, but if there is a protracted fight in southern Lebanon, it certainly won’t be.

And it is a long way from moving onto the idea of a wider political settlement in the Middle East – which ultimately is only way to make people on all sides safe.

Because for as long as these festering conflicts - some of which have gone on for generations - continue, there will always be more of this.

Lucy Williamson
BBC Middle East Correspondent, in northern Israel

Just 24 hours ago, the fields in front of me were full of dozens of tanks, lined up on the brown soil.

Now, most of that fighting force has gone.

And several other armoured vehicles are manoeuvring into a column, ready to move out.

Israel has described this as a limited and targeted incursion.

But sending ground forces, even a short distance across the border, carries significant risks to its army - in an area where Hezbollah has been preparing to meet Israeli troops for years.

We're hearing air raid sirens have been sounding in the Tel Aviv area of Israel and that at least three projectiles have been intercepted.

We'll bring you more details when we have them.

A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces has just spoken to our colleagues on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner says Hezbollah has "forward-operating bases" in the south of Lebanon that were intended to be used in "October 7-like attacks".

That is why the Israeli military mobilised overnight, he says, "in order to dismantle those infrastructures".

It's put to him that Israel's description of "limited and targeted" attacks is similar to language used before its forces moved into Gaza last year.

Lerner says there are differences: in Gaza, the goal is to dismantle Hamas as a governing authority, and that in Lebanon it's "much more focused against the immediate threats posed to Israeli citizens".

It is put to him that Israel has invaded a sovereign country, but Lerner says Hezbollah began "their war" on 8 October, displacing tens of thousands in Israelis with cross-border rocket fire.

The latest action follows a "year of negotiations" to try to bring people home safely, he says.

"No there is no plan to occupy [Lebanon], the plan is to dismantle the infrastructure that Hezbollah established to kill Israelis," Lerner adds.

Lebanon's Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, says his country is facing "one of the most dangerous phases" in its history.

Mikati made the comment during a UN meeting, hours after Israeli troops entered southern Lebanon.

Nafiseh Kohnavard
BBC Persian Middle East correspondent, in Beirut

"This is going to be our daily life from now on."

That was a post from one of my neighbours in our WhatsApp group last night, after we heard the first loud explosion.

The whole neighbourhood was awake until early morning. Dahieh, the part of southern Beirut targeted by Israeli air strikes overnight, is not close, but it’s not far either.

We can see a part of it from our windows and balconies. Each explosion there, is being heard here strongly. Last night, we heard seven loud blasts that shook our buildings.

"I can’t bear it anymore," another neighbour writes in the group.

After a couple of big explosions, we could see a thick smoke and fire coming out from Dahieh.

My neighbourhood is considered safe and hasn’t been targeted in the past wars between Hezbollah and Israel, but despite this, many people here don’t feel safe.

The neighbourhood’s buildings - including the one I live in - were badly damaged during the Beirut port explosion four years ago that killed more than 200 people and left more than 7,000 injured.

Every blast we hear, for many here, brings a reminder of the trauma that still, is fresh.

Due to the financial crisis that Lebanon has been dealing with since 2019, it took a long time for many here to repair their damaged houses.

"We just can’t start from zero again. Sometimes I feel if we die it is better. We have gone through a lot. Enough," another resident writes in the group.

This morning, after the rain, Dahieh looks calm from here. Only a small smoke is still coming out. There is a strange smell in the air.

Our WhatsApp group is full of news about the start of the ground invasion. "We have officially entered an unknown," a neighbour writes.

In the past half hour, Israel Defense Forces' Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee says Hezbollah is using the civilian population as a shield to launch attacks in southern Lebanon.

Warning that "violent clashes" are taking place in southern Lebanon, he warns Lebanese civilians against using vehicles to travel south across the Litani river.

The river flows east to west around 20 miles north of the Israel-Lebanon border.

Hezbollah says it has now targeted soldiers in another part of northern Israel.

At 08:55 (06:55 BST) Hezbollah launched artillery fire on the Avivim area, close to the Lebanon border, according to a statement released by the group.

As we've just reported, Hezbollah earlier said it had targeted troops in the Israeli border town of Metula.

A video posted by the Israel Defense Forces appears to confirm some Israeli troops were operating in Lebanon before the ground offensive began overnight.

The video show the commander of the elite Egoz Unit, which was originally set up to combat Hezbollah, addressing his troops overnight.

Speaking in Hebrew, he says the military have until now conducted "low signature operations" inside Lebanon, and that now the ground manoeuvre begins.

It appears to be the first confirmation of something that was widely rumoured in recent days – that small numbers of Israeli troops were already carrying out operations inside Lebanon.

Hezbollah says it targeted Israeli troops in the Israeli border town of Metula on Tuesday morning.

A "rocket barrage" was launched at 08:05 (06:05 BST), a statement from the group says, as well as artillery fire 25 minutes earlier.

The IDF says a number of alerts were activated in the area, which detected "about five launches".

They say some launches were intercepted, some "crashes" occurred and some "fell in an open area".

Yesterday, the Israeli military declared the areas around Metula, Misgav Am, and Kfar Giladi in northern Israel a "closed military zone", prohibiting access to the area.

This Israeli ground offensive has felt almost inevitablepublished at 06:53 British Summer Time 1 October

06:53 BST 1 October

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Beirut

Lebanon is waking up to the news that Israel has launched a ground incursion in the south, something that felt almost inevitable in the last few days.

The fear is that this could be the beginning of a wider campaign against Hezbollah, and history shows that it is easy for Israeli troops to enter Lebanon, but difficult for them to leave.

For almost a year, as Hezbollah carried out near-daily cross-border on attacks on Israel, many outside the group’s support base feared the country was being dragged into a conflict that it has not chosen to fight.

Hezbollah is often described as a state within the state here.

It is a heavily armed militia, said to be stronger than the Lebanese army, and a political movement with representation in parliament, and a social movement with significant support.

It is powerful and highly influential.

The Lebanese authorities have little say, if any, over its actions. And many in Lebanon say the group is more interested in defending its own interests, and those of its main supporter, Iran.

The group - described as a terrorist organisation in the UK, the US and others in the West - has been weakened by intense Israeli airstrikes and high-profile assassinations, including of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

But it has not been defeated. It remains defiant and has vowed to resist any invasion.

In Lebanon, the authorities say as many as one million people have already been displaced, and more than 1,000 killed in the last two weeks. As the conflict escalates, an already exhausted country is being thrown into an even deeper crisis.

The Israeli military has confirmed that overnight it carried out "precise strikes" on "several" weapons manufacturing sites and Hezbollah infrastructure in Dahieh, a southern suburb of Beirut regarded as a Hezbollah stronghold.

"Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including by issuing warnings to civilians in the area, the use of precise munitions, and aerial surveillance," it says.

• 'Another sleepless night in Beirut': Read this earlier post from our correspondent Nafiseh Kohnavard here

Image source, Reuters

Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s popularity, which was battered after the Hamas attacks on 7 October, may have been boosted by his country’s military successes against Hezbollah, according to one opinion poll.

The snapshot survey, conducted for Israel’s Channel 12, indicated the Israeli PM's Likud party would win more seats than any other if a general election was held. He currently leads a fragile coalition of ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox parties.

Respondents also favoured Netanyahu as prime minister over the centrist opposition leader, Yair Lapid - with 38% preferring him over his rival who has 27% support.

The Israeli PM's image as “Mr Security” was badly damaged after the 7 October attacks, which was the deadliest day in Israeli history. Since then, thousands have also taken to the streets in Israel to protest the government's failure to bring back the hostages taken that day.

However, the recent offensive against Hezbollah, coupled with the key backing of former political rival Gideon Saar, seem to have strengthened Netanyahu's grip on power - at least temporarily.

• You can read the full story here

We're now seeing the first images of Lebanon's capital of Beirut this morning - just hours after Israel's incursion.

Earlier, large plumes of smoke could be seen rising over Beirut after Israeli strikes targeted Hezbollah's stronghold in the southern suburbs.

Meanwhile, civilians started taking shelter away from the affected areas as some foreign nationals continued to be evacuated from Lebanon.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters