Hezbollah’s media office has announced the deaths of two of the group’s fighters.

Posts on Telegram identify them as Khader Moussa Sweid and Hamza Mohammed Zalghout, whom it says were both from the southern village of Haris.

It adds that they had been “martyred on the road to Jerusalem" - a phrase it has been using to refer to fighters killed by Israeli fire - and provided no further details.

Earlier, Lebanon’s ministry of public health reported that an Israeli strike had killed two people in the village of Tiri. It is not clear if they were the Hezbollah fighters, but Tiri is only 4 km (2.5 miles) south of Haris.

The ministry also said one person had been killed in a drone strike on a car in Khiam. The Amal movement, an ally of Hezbollah, announced the death of one of its fighters from that village.

Lucy Williamson
Middle East correspondent, reporting from northern Israel

The sounds of daily life have replaced the explosions that woke Nahariya this morning.

A thin ribbon of cars speeds along the highway beneath the hills where Israel meets the Lebanese border. A few customers, scattered among the pavement cafes, discuss the latest barrage of missiles and rockets, weary after more than 10 months of war.

“We heard bombs and we jumped from the beds to the shelter and prayed to god for everything to pass over,” says Noam Admoni. “It’s difficult times.”

“I heard boom boom boom. It was very dangerous,” says Omri Masan, a Bedouin from the nearby village of Arab al-Aramshe. “To me, this is the start of the war.”

“I’m used to it,” says Penny Leisner, a teacher who has lived in Nahariya for 45 years, and woke to the sound of fighter jets and Israel’s air defences.

"We’re just waiting," she says. “We wait and wait and wait, and hope it’ll be finished soon.”

The Israeli military has lifted some of the restrictions it issued after news of Hezbollah's planned attack in some parts of the country.

In a statement shared on X, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) says it decided to remove restrictions in the Upper Galilee, and in some areas in southern Golan, Lower Galilee, Central Galilee, Beit She'an Valley, the Valleys, Haifa Bay, the Carmel, Wadi Ara, Menashe, Sharon and Dan.

The IDF says some restrictions remain in place in communities along the Lebanon border and in the Golan Heights.

During Sunday's early hours Israel had declared a state of emergency originally for 48 hours as a precaution.

According to Israeli media reports earlier on, residents of all northern border communities and towns in the Golan Heights were ordered by the IDF to stay near bomb shelters and avoid unnecessary movements and gatherings.

Orla Guerin
Senior international correspondent, reporting from southern Lebanon

Image source, reuter

Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon have continued over the past few hours. From our position in the southern city of Tyre we could see and hear explosions in the hills in the distance, near the border.

After one loud blast there was a plume of dark smoke on the horizon – though sunbathers on the beach in front of us did not stir from the sand.

Hezbollah has been quick to signal that its retaliation for Israel’s assassination of its top commander Fuad Shukr last month is over for now – or at least its "first phase”.

It denied that Israel’s major pre-emptive action in the early hours was effective, dismissing that as “empty claims”.

Hezbollah says it targeted 11 military bases and barracks. That is significant. Even though it was a large -scale attack it did not target key infrastructure or a major city. In that sense, Hezbollah has kept within what are regarded as the rules of engagement in this tit-for-tat conflict – striking military targets, not civilian ones.

So far there are no reports of civilian deaths on the Israeli side. This too is significant. If civilians were killed, that could push Israel to strike back harder.

Here in Lebanon three people have been reported killed in Israeli strikes this morning. It’s believed all three were fighters, though this has not been confirmed.

We have now had Israel’s pre-emptive strike, and stage one of Hezbollah’s retaliation. Now we wait to see if Israel will take further large-scale military action – as many on the Israeli right are demanding. It’s more likely that the conflict here will revert to the usual pattern of smaller tit-for-tat attacks, at least for now. Plenty on both sides of the border would settle for that, rather than risk all-out war.

Yemen's Houthi movement has commented on Hezbollah's attack, calling it a "courageous attack carried out by the resistance this morning against the Israeli enemy".

The Iran-backed group also renewed threats to launch its own attack on Israel in response to Israeli strikes on a port in Yemen in July. Israel has said those strikes were a response to a Houthi drone hitting Tel Aviv.

The Houthis are an armed political and religious group. It has declared itself part of an "axis of resistance" of Iran-affiliated groups that work in opposition to Israel, the US, and the wider West - along with armed groups such as Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement.

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has held an emergency meeting with ministers to discuss the situation in the south of the country, the state-run National News Agency reports.

During the meeting, Mikati stressed that he is "holding a series of contacts with Lebanon's friends to stop the escalation".

He also emphasised "Lebanon's position in support of international efforts that could lead to a ceasefire in Gaza".

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

• In this morning's early hours, Israel's military launched what it called pre-emptive air strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, after detecting plans for a significant attack against its territory
• Hezbollah later said it had started "phase one" of an extensive attack on Israel, firing 320 Katyusha rockets and drones and targeting 11 military sites - today's operations are now complete, according to an update

• The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said around 100 fighter jets "struck and destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels" in more than 40 sites
• Israel said it continued to strike targets in southern Lebanon to "remove threats" in the area
• At least three people were killed after Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon, according to the country's health ministry. Meanwhile, the IDF says Hezbollah's attack caused "very little damage"
• Later, Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to give a speech at 18:00 local time (16:00 BST)

Stick with us as we continue to bring you the latest updates.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

Shelley Barkan, an English teacher in the northern Israeli town of Shlomi, says she was woken "very early" this morning by the sound of sirens, "one after the other".

"It was like fireworks going on in the sky above us in both directions," she tells me.

She says she has grown used to the sound of sirens and explosions, but today felt different because of the feeling "that maybe the war is coming".

Shelley adds:

She says the school term is supposed to start on 1 September, and she has been receiving messages from students asking if classes will be cancelled.

Many residents of Shlomi evacuated months ago, but Shelly - who also runs a kitchen for Israeli soldiers - says she made the decision to stay.

"I love my home... I’m not going anywhere," she says.

But, she adds, "life in Israel is not so great at the moment".

Footage taken this morning shows smoke billowing over the Lebanese villages of Khiam and Qoussair after Israel launched air strikes over the border.

Israel's military says the strikes were conducted pre-emptively against Hezbollah targets after detecting plans for a significant attack against its territory.

Region awaited Hezbollah's response for close to a monthpublished at 10:25 British Summer Time 25 August

10:25 BST 25 August

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent

Image source, Reuters

For almost a month, Lebanon, Israel and the rest of the region waited for Hezbollah’s response to the Israeli killing of senior commander Fuad Shukr, the most high-profile leader of the group to have been assassinated in the current hostilities.

Shukr was killed in a residential building in Dahiya, Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold. The group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had promised to retaliate and, after 10 months of near-daily cross-border attacks, the expectation was that it had to be significantly different.

Israel says it carried out a pre-emptive pre-dawn strike, essentially foiling Hezbollah’s plans. A military spokesman said some of the group’s targets were in central Israel, areas up until now untouched by the group’s attacks. Hezbollah then said it had fired a barrage of rockets and drones, in the first phase of its response, and described the operation as successful.

Nasrallah will give a speech later, which will be closely watched for indications of what the group may be planning to do. Today’s developments have raised concerns about an escalation of the violence between Hezbollah and Israel, which so far has been relatively contained to border areas.

This morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, again, repeated that the country is “determined” to do everything to return tens of thousands of residents who have been displaced in the north. “Whoever harms us - we will harm them,” he said.

The attacks happen as efforts continue for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, the main hope to de-escalate tensions along the border. Despite the surge in the fighting, those negotiations are expected to continue later.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani has described Hezbollah's action today as "a partial execution of the large-scale attack they were planning".

He says Israel had used a "series of real-time self-defence strikes" to minimise the impact.

Shoshani told reporters this morning that Israel was still in "a situation assessment of the aftermath of the attack", but that it had sustained "very little damage".

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Not necessarily, no. But it is a serious and dangerous escalation.

Hezbollah has been quick to say its actions are over for now. Both sides – Israel and Hezbollah – claim to have successfully completed their missions in the early hours of this morning. Israel says it deployed around 100 aircraft to hit 40 launch sites in southern Lebanon, destroying "thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels aimed at northern and central Israel".

Hezbollah says it "has completed the first phase" of an operation to avenge the death of its senior commander Fuad Shukr, killed last month in an Israeli strike in Beirut. Hezbollah, which has spent months mapping and gathering intelligence on targets inside Israel, says it hit 11 Israeli bases in a wave of Katyusha rocket launches.

Neither side wants a full-scale war, which would risk dragging in both Iran and the US.

But the question is whether Israel and Hezbollah decide they have done enough. And the answer is probably not. For Israelis, the constant cross-border attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon are intolerable, displacing more than 60,000 citizens from their homes and there are calls on the government to deal with this by pushing Hezbollah north of Lebanon’s Litani river.

In southern Lebanon an even greater number have been displaced by Israeli strikes.

For Hezbollah, the ongoing Israeli military operation in Gaza, where over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, is providing an impetus for their attacks on Israel’s northern border. This is why diplomats, politicians and intelligence chiefs have been trying so hard to reach a ceasefire deal for Gaza. End that conflict, the reasoning goes, and temperatures in the whole region will subside.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has struck Hezbollah rocket launchers in several areas in southern Lebanon in the past hour to "remove threats".

"In addition, the IDF identified a terrorist cell operating in the area of Khiam in southern Lebanon.... [and] struck the terrorists," it adds in a post on Telegram.

Lebanon's ministry of health has confirmed three deaths in areas in southern Lebanon.

Image source, EPA

Hezbollah is a Shia Muslim armed group based in Lebanon, and one of the most heavily-armed, non-state military forces in the world. It is funded and equipped by Iran.

It also plays a key political role in Lebanon, and has participated in the country's national elections since 1992.

The group's leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has claimed that it has 100,000 fighters, although independent estimates vary between 20,000 and 50,000.

Cross-border fire between Hezbollah and Israel has increased since 7 October, after Hamas's attacks on southern Israel, which saw around 1,200 people killed and 240 taken hostage. Israel launched a retaliatory offensive in Gaza, where more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Hezbollah is designated a terrorist organisation by western states including the US, UK and Israel.

• You can read more on Hezbollah here

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

Lebanon's ministry of health says three people have been killed in areas in the south of the country after Israel launched strikes against Hezbollah.

The ministry says one person was killed in a drone strike on a car in the village of Khiam, after Hezbollah earlier confirmed the death of a fighter from the allied Shia Amal movement.

In a separate statement, the ministry says an Israeli attack on the village of Tiri had killed two people, without providing further details.

Hezbollah has confirmed the death of a fighter from the allied Shia Amal movement, who was from the southern Lebanese town of Khiam.

The Iran-backed armed group did not describe in what conditions the person died, but the confirmation comes after Lebanon's health ministry said one person was killed after an Israeli strike hit a car in the same city.

In a statement, Hezbollah says Ayman Kamel Idriss died "while performing his national and jihadist duty in defence of Lebanon and the south".

Hezbollah's statement comes after Israel's military said it conducted pre-emptive strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

Image source, EPA

If you're just joining us, here's a look back at the key developments:

• Israel's military said it has conducted pre-emptive air strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after detecting plans for a significant attack against its territory
• Later, Hezbollah confirmed it had started "phase one" of an extensive attack on Israel, firing 320 Katyusha rockets and drones towards Israel and targeting 11 military sites

• The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says around 100 fighter jets "struck and destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels" in more than 40 sites
• At least one person was killed after an Israeli airstrike on a car in the southern Lebanese town of Khiam, according to the country's health ministry
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government is "determined to do everything possible to protect our country," adding: "whoever harms us - we harm him"

Stick with us as we continue to bring you the latest updates.

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading cross-border fire for monthspublished at 08:37 British Summer Time 25 August

08:37 BST 25 August

Jon Donnison
BBC News, Jerusalem

Hezbollah has described today's action as the first phase of its response to the Israeli assassination of its senior commander Fuad Shukr on 30 July.

It was widely believed Israel was behind the assassination of the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in a strike in the Iranian capital Tehran the following day.

Ever since, the region has been waiting for a response from both Hezbollah and Iran. From Iran, it is yet to come. But this appears to be Hezbollah’s first significant retaliation.

Israel’s military says it is ready to fight a war on two fronts: in Gaza and on its northern border with Lebanon. But Hezbollah is a far more formidable force than Hamas.

It’s estimated Hezbollah has around 150,000 rockets, some capable of reaching targets across Israel. Its fighters are well trained and better equipped than those of Hamas.

For the past 10 months, Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire across the border.

Tens of thousands of people living there have been evacuated from their homes since the start of the war in Gaza, and many have lost their businesses.

Israeli and Hezbollah leaders say they do not want another full-scale war. But both sides say they are ready for it.

We're now seeing photos of an Israeli fighter jet intercepting a Hezbollah unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as it crosses from Lebanon over an area near the border with Israel:

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Hezbollah says its planned attack on Israel for today "has been completed and accomplished" in an update.

The Iran-backed Shia Muslim group says attacks were launched at specific times and crossed Lebanon's border "towards the desired target and from multiple paths".

In reference to Israel's comments that its strikes were pre-emptive, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) having been able to damage or destroy certain targets, Hezbollah says the claims are "empty", adding that they "contradict the facts on the ground and will be refuted" later today.