In beirut this morning which has seen further attacks overnight. These were the strikes on the Southern Suburbs of beirut, where israel said it was targeting hezbollah weapons depots. Earlier the Israeli Defense Forces said it was targeting what it says is hezbollah S Headquarters in the capital. The groups leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was reportedly the target of the explosions. At least six people were killed in the attack and more than 90 injured according to lebanese officals. Simonjones has the latest. Explosions. New strikes overnight on Southern Beirut. Israels military said it was targeting buildings storing hezbollah weapons underneath them. Hezbollah denied they were arms depots. Explosions. Earlier a series of massive explosions. It is not that i could hear was the hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. It is unclear whether he was any of the buildings that were hit. Iran which backs hezbollah has called the attacks a dangerous game changing escalation. In the aftermath of the Barts Bbc Correspondence on the ground in Southern Beirut faced hostility from angry crowds. This Southern Beirut faced hostility from angry crowds. Southern beirut faced hostility from angry crowds. This is one ofthe from angry crowds. This is one of the roads from angry crowds. This is one of the roads leading from angry crowds. This is one of the roads leading to from angry crowds. This is one | of the roads leading to dahieh. We tried to get out of the car but was stopped by a group of men. There is chaos, there is tension, we have seen crowds gathered by the road with rucksacks and bags apparently trying to leave dahieh. Into the night. Trying to leave dahieh. Into the night, accused trying to leave dahieh. Into the night, accused to trying to leave dahieh. Into the night, accused to leave the Southern Suburbs. Israel had ordered people to evacuate some buildings for their own safety. Others took refuge on the seafront. Hezbollah has continued Firing Rockets on northern israel. Continued Firing Rockets on northern israel. Prime minister netanyahu. Northern israel. Prime minister netanyahu, are northern israel. Prime minister netanyahu, are you northern israel. Prime minister netanyahu, are you agreeing i northern israel. Prime minister| netanyahu, are you agreeing to a Ceasefire Deal or not . At netanyahu, are you agreeing to a Ceasefire Deal or not . A Ceasefire Deal or not . At the un general a Ceasefire Deal or not . At the Un General Assembly a Ceasefire Deal or not . At the Un General Assembly in a Ceasefire Deal or not . At the un generalassembly in new. Un general assembly in New York, israels Prime Minister was defiant. Was defiant. Israel has been tolerating was defiant. Israel has been tolerating this was defiant. Israel has been tolerating this intolerable i tolerating this intolerable situation for nearly a year. I have come here today to say enough is enough. Enough is enough. Palestine will be free enough is enough. Palestine will be free but enough is enough. Palestine will be free but his enough is enough. Palestine will be free but his speech | will be free but his speech was met will be free but his speech was met with will be free but his speech was met with protests. Will be free but his speech was met with protests. It i will be free but his speech i was met with protests. It is time to face was met with protests. It is time to face the was met with protests. It is time to face The Truth was met with protests. It is time to face the Truth And L was met with protests. It 3 time to face The Truth and The Truth is unless netanyahu is stopped, unless this government is stopped, wore will encompass all of us. u, all of us. The us is calling for restraint. All of us. The us is calling for restraint. Israel all of us. The us is calling for restraint. Israel has i all of us. The us is Calling L for restraint. Israel has the ri. Ht to for restraint. Israel has the right to defend for restraint. Israel has the right to defend itself for restraint. Israel has the L Right to defend itself against terrorism. The way it does so matters. The choices that all parties make in the coming days will determine which path this region is on. Will determine which path this region is on region is on. The us has said aaain region is on. The us has said again that region is on. The us has said again that a region is on. The us has said again that a Way Region is on. The us has said again that a way forward region is on. The us has said again that a way forward is l again that a way forward is through diplomacy, not conflict. Simon jones, bbc news. With me is Mohamed Taha from bbc arabic. We can show viewers these live pictures we have coming in from beirut, which show further explosions in The City this morning. What is the latest on that .. that . Indeed, it is now fullscale that . Indeed, it is now fullScale War that . Indeed, it is now fullScale War between full Scale War between Hezbollah And Israel on that front. Israel yesterday, as you mentioned, hit massively a target in the southern suburb of beirut, it is believed that the headquarters, that this place is the headquarter of hezbollah in that place. And since then israel never stopped showing this area schelling. The spokesperson of the israeli army, daniel hagari, asked residents to leave many parts of the southern suburb of beirut, the Stronghold Place of hezbollah and people started to evacuate and move from their homes to stay somewhere else. On the other Side Hezbollah never stopped Schelling Israeli targets overnight, they targeted many towns. We also saw pictures of Fire And Smoke from this area. Israel asked the people in these cities and other cities to stay in bunkers because they are expecting retaliation from hezbollah. nd Retaliation from hezbollah. And what is the retaliation from hezbollah. And what is the impact on the civilians therein beirut who are now living under this bombardment in some parts of The City . Bombardment in some parts of the ci .. The City . Indeed, the scenes we can see in The City . Indeed, the scenes we can see in beirut The City . Indeed, the scenes we can see in beirut at The City . Indeed, the scenes we can see in beirut at the The City . Indeed, the scenes we i can see in beirut at the moment are really similar to the scenes we saw in gaza in the beginning of this war. Massive amount of people leaving their homes, massive amount of explosions as we can see in the pictures overnight, and this morning. There is continuous schelling from israel to this area, massive misery and talks about lots of people under rubble, lots of people are dead. The lebanese officials talk about six people dead and 90 injured, only in that massive explosion last night, we do not know the numbers of people dead at the moment, in the misery in these areas. nd the misery in these areas. And in the midst the misery in these areas. And in the midst of the misery in these areas. And in the midst of this, the misery in these areas. And in the midst of this, questions about where the leader of Hezbollah Is. t about where the leader of Hezbollah Is. About where the leader of Hezbollah Is. U, Hezbollah Is. Of course. There are contradicting Hezbollah Is. Of course. There are contradicting News Hezbollah is. Of course. There are contradicting news about | are contradicting news about this, the israeli media, they are dealing with Hassan Nasrallah as if he is dead from the explosion last evening. There is complete silence from Hezbollah And Israeli officials as to whether nasrallah was hurt in the explosion or not, and there are american reports that are talking about that we might need to wait a week or more until we know if Hassan Nasrallah was in that place that was targeted last evening or not. Mohamed taha, thank you. We can speak now to gina abercrombie winstanley, former us ambassador and senior non Resident Scholar at the atlantic council. Thank you forjoining us on the programme. We are seeing these scenes at the moment coming in from beirut and as my colleague was mentioning there, this constant exchange of fire between israel and hezbollah, how significant significant do you think this moment is . It is yet another moment of danger. We have seen many escalations over the last 11 months, many of them undertaken by the government of israel. And we have seen some miscalculations during the last 11 months as well, unintended consequences, one of them that comes immediately to mind of course is the killing of the children in northern israel, that brought on an elevated israeli response. And so this to is yet another time where the region could be thrown into a conflagration without a focused effort toward diplomacy. And of course the challenges that the israelis are not interested in diplomacy at this moment. Hat are not interested in diplomacy at this moment. Not interested in diplomacy at this moment. Not interested in diplomacy and at this moment. Not interested in diplomacy and i at this moment. Not interested in diplomacy and i guess at this moment. Not interested in diplomacy and i guess the i in diplomacy and i guess the key player in any kind of diplomatic effort would be the united states. What do you make of the Countrys Role in all of this, because they have distanced themselves from these latest israeli strikes we have seenin latest israeli strikes we have seen in beirut. Latest israeli strikes we have seen in beirut. Yeah, well. Frustration, seen in beirut. Yeah, well. I frustration, behindthescenes frustration, behind the scenes and in front of the scenes as we have seen where the president has said we did not know this was going to happen, we had no role in the attack on the Secretary General of hezbollah. It is a huge risk, it is an attack of another level, to go after nasrallah specifically. Frustration, because the us sincerely believes diplomacy is the way to resolve these issues, that there has to be a credible, clear path for palestinians, for the Gaza Strip in order to bring safety, Security And Peace and stability for israel. Israel is a close ally but without It Being in place for both sides, all sides, Israel Cannot have it. And the israeli government is taking the position that increased violence and military operations are going to bring about what they believe will be quiet, but it will not be long term quiet. We have been here Before. Longterm quiet. We have been here Before. Here Before. And a question i ruess here Before. And a question i guess viewers here Before. And a question i guess viewers might here Before. And a question i guess viewers might be here Before. And a question i guess viewers might be the L Guess viewers might be the consequences if the united states continues to call for diplomacy, a ceasefire, and israel does not heed those calls. Any potential consequences from the united states, or will they continue to give these messages to israel . ~. Israel . We have infinite Patience Israel . We have infinite patience when israel . We have infinite patience when it israel . We have infinite patience when it comes| israel . We have infinite i patience when it comes to israel. The messages will continue, probably very direct ones, but we are patient, we recognise that they have choices to make as a sovereign government, and we are coming up government, and we are coming up on an election which definitely has an impact with what the president does as he tries to set the stage for his successor. Tries to set the stage for his successor tries to set the stage for his successor. And the question about the successor. And the question about the leader successor. And the question about the leader of successor. And the question i about the leader of hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, he was reportedly the target of israel strikes on friday, what impact would it have if he was killed in those attacks . The israelis have effectively in those attacks . The israelis have effectively taken in those attacks . The israelis have effectively taken out. In those attacks . The israelis i have effectively taken out much of Hezbollahs Leadership over the last ten months or so. To actually kill Hassan Nasrallah would put the organisation in turmoil, even greater, in compromising its medications and Sewing Distrust among them because someone must have been cooperating with the israelis for them to have been so effective in undermining the organisation. So if there isnt a leader standing in the wings clearly. Like hamas, like hezbollah in the past, someone will take over, someone will lead hezbollah, and it will likely continue the conflict with israel. The challenge with killing and killing and killing is that it breeds anger, it breeds resentment, it breeds the desire for vengeance. As the desire for vengeance. As the Prime Minister used on 8 October when he said that vengeance was going to be meted out on palestinians. Thank you to gina abercrombie winstanley. Lets speak now to rami abukalam, a british lebanese journalist living in beirut, who heard fridays explosions in beirutjust Before he was about to drive through the area to pick up his cousin from the airport. Thank you forjoining us on the programme. Just talk us through what has been like over the past 2a hours in beirut. It what has been like over the past 24 hours in beirut. It has been really past 24 hours in beirut. It has been really scary. Past 24 hours in beirut. It has been really scary. I past 24 hours in beirut. It has been really scary. I was past 24 hours in beirut. It has been really scary. I was going j been really scary. I was going to pick up my cousin from the airport which is not far from where those strikes were. It was clearly the largest and loudest set of blasts i think we have heard, there has been a lot of explosions and Sonic Booms but this was clearly unprecedented in scale. Band booms but this was clearly unprecedented in scale. And we are hearing unprecedented in scale. And we are hearing that unprecedented in scale. And we are hearing that the unprecedented in scale. And we are hearing that the airstrikes i are hearing that the airstrikes are hearing that the airstrikes are continuing in beirut, talk us through the mood in The City, yourfamily and us through the mood in The City, your family and friends that you are speaking to. It is really scary. That you are speaking to. It is really scary, there that you are speaking to. It is really scary, there is that you are speaking to. It is really scary, there is a that you are speaking to. It 3 really scary, there is a fear in the that i havent seen since the 2006 war. Wherever you go people are talking about where is the next place that will be hit, and a lot of people here are pretty resilient to war, there has been a lot of conflict over the past few decades but there is a lot of fear here and yeah, nobody knows what is going to happen next. Nobody knows what is going to happen next nobody knows what is going to happen next. You mentioned the 2006 war, happen next. You mentioned the 2006 war. And happen next. You mentioned the 2006 war, and at happen next. You mentioned the 2006 war, and at that happen next. You mentioned the 2006 war, and at that time happen next. You mentioned the 2006 war, and at that time i 2006 war, and at that time i believe you were evacuated from lebanon to cyprus by the british military. This time you are trying to leave on a commercial flight. Are trying to leave on a commercialflight. How easy are trying to leave on a commercial flight. How easy is it getting out of lebanon at the moment . It it getting out of lebanon at the moment . The moment . It is quite difficult the moment . It is quite difficult because the moment . It is quite difficult because the the moment . It is quite i difficult because the British Government keeps telling us that national here should try and leave on the earliest available flight, most flights are cancelled, the only carrier still running flight is the lebanese carrier, Middle East airlines, and they are fully booked for weeks. Flight that i am leaving on i booked a week ago, it was the earliest flight i could get, so i have been waiting day after day to get out of the country and obviously it has got worse and worse each day. Obviously it has got worse and worse each day. You are british lebanese. Worse each day. You are british lebanese, lebanon worse each day. You are british lebanese, lebanon is worse each day. You are british lebanese, lebanon is also worse each day. You are british lebanese, lebanon is also your home, how does it feel having to leave once again . It is really sad. To leave once again . It is really sad. I to leave once again . It is really sad. I feel to leave once again . It is really sad. I feel like to leave once again . It is really sad. I feel like i I To Leave once again . It is| really sad. I feel like i am really sad. Ifeel like i am leaving the country for the same reason, for the second time in a decade. And this is my country, i love this country, i come here to visit family and it is a beautiful place, but yeah. I cant tell you how sad it is to feel that once again i have to leave because it doesnt feel safe. We continue to see images of people who are displaced by this round of fighting, what kind of help is getting to people and how are you all coming together as lebanese . There has been a huge Community Response. The government here is very fragile, and i spoke to people at a school that was sheltering about 600 people that have come from the south and that is happening all across lebanon. Schools and hotels have opened their doors, people have helped people in their own houses. Living in beirut you can see The City is swelled with people, there are people sleeping on the streets, there has definitely been a big Community Response but the need is really great here. Is really great here. Thank you very much is really great here. Thank you very much for is really great here. Thank you very much forjoining is really great here. Thank you very much forjoining us, is really g