According to israel. It comes in the hours after the israeli military carried out what it called extensive strikes on hezbollah targets in southern lebanon. Israeli aircraft destroyed thousands of hezbollah rocket launch barrels in southern lebanon, according to israeli officials. Also tonight, the us state department is urging american citizens to leave lebanon, with fears growing of an all out war. Meanwhile, the death toll from israel s strike on a densely populated area of southern beirut on friday has risen to 37. Hezbollah says 16 of its members were killed in the attack, including senior military commander ibrahim aqil. He was wanted by the us government for years and was designated a global terrorist for his involvement in the 1983 bombing of the us embassy in beirut. Friday s bombing also killed civilians, including three children, with more feared trapped in the rubble. Our middle east correspondent orla guerin reports from the scene in beirut. Israel is believed to have been
Sir tony, thank you for speaking to me. It s very good to see you. Let s start with some feelings before we get to plenty of facts. Labour s back in power after 14 years. Very, very few people know what it feels like to actually be the prime minister of a new government, to be a country s leader. What does. . . What did it feel like as you walked through that door and into power in 1997? well, for me, the feelings were less those of elation. I mean, everyone around me was. . . . . Was, you know, celebrating, but i was very conscious immense burden of responsibility that comes with power, or should do. One of the fundamental challenges that notjust britain but lots of western democracies face today is populism. And i would say, tell me if you think differently, i would say populism is broadly that mode of politics in which charismatic leaders claim to represent the will of the people against a ruling elite. In your view, should populism be, as george orwell said of saints, always consid