Of a wider conflict. Israel is continuing its operations in lebanon as leaders weigh options to retaliate against iran's long—range missile assault on tuesday. If israel does respond to the strike, then the islamic republic has vowed to retaliate against israel and countries it sees as supporting it. Us presidentjoe biden said the us is now discussing the possibility of israeli strikes on iran's oil infrastructure. Oil prices have increased 10% since iran's strike on tuesday, which was launched after israel's killing of hassan nasrallah, leader of the iran—backed hezbollah. Meanwhile, hopes are dimming of a ceasfire in gaza or lebanon. Nearly one year on from hamas�*s attacks on 7 october, israeli forces are still in gaza and 97 hostages remain unaccounted for. As the humanitarian situation worsens in both countries, us charities now say 30% of lebanon's 5. 8 million people are now displaced. Southern lebanon's salah ghandour hospital says it's been attacked by israel, after it was warned to evacuate. They say nine members of staff were hurt. An israeli air strike hit near a main border crossing point where people were fleeing from lebanon to neighbouring syria on friday. Israel's military said it hit hezbollah targets near the masnaa crossing, and claimed the group was using it to smuggle weapons into lebanon. The strike destroyed a section of the road, cutting off vehicle access. But people are now walking across the rubble to get out. More than 300,000 people have left lebanon for syria in the past 10 days. 0ur correspondent lucy williamson has the latest from the israel—lebanon border. Hezbollah rockets are no longer a response to israeli troops in gaza, but to israeli troops at home, mapping their path through lebanon's border villages. We're starting to see more signs of resistance to israeli forces on the other side of the border. Even a year of air strikes, intelligence operations, raids by special forces have not destroyed hezbollah�*s ability to fight back just a few miles in. Sirens. We've just heard some bursts of small arms fire and what sounded like some grenades from the israeli army, and now you can hear the sirens going off, telling us to get out of the area. Explosions. We've just heard a series of very loud explosions, what seems to be rockets landing nearby, some small arms fire across the border. It seems the israeli army is pushing into a location, and this was the response. Go. Most of the residents along this border have been evacuated. Come on, time to go. But in the arab—israeli town ofjish a few miles down the road, many people have stayed. The sound of israeli artillery firing from the hill above. The mayor is one of many here with family ties to lebanon. Israel's ground war has sparked mixed emotions, he says. It's more than afraid. Afraid is something forjust a few minutes. We have one year of afraid. I can't. . . I don't know how to say it, but it's fear for a long time. And they don't know when, how, how it will finish. This is israel's third ground war in lebanon. So far, those wars have been easier to start than to end. Lucy williamson, bbc news, the israel—lebanon border. I spoke to aaron david miller, seniorfellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace. As we just heard there in that report from lucy, israel now having its third ground war with lebanon, and she was saying there in that report that these wars are hard to end. So what do you think? and i know it's a difficult question, but what do you think israel's endgame is here? the enduame israel's endgame is here? the endgame is — israel's endgame is here? the endgame is clear _ israel's endgame is here? the endgame is clear _ israel's endgame is here? tue: endgame is clear — to israel's endgame is here? tte: endgame is clear — to push hezbollah, and most of its military infrastructure, north of the litani river, even perhaps further than that, toward the awali, in order to ensure that there are no cross—border incursions by hezbollah forces, or that their high—trajectory weapons cannot, on a daily basis, essentially make life in northern israel intolerable. The problem, of course, is that without a major military intervention, and the capacity to prevent hezbollah�*s return, it seems to me it's highly unlikely that the military operation the israelis have in train will be able to accomplish either of those objectives. I mean it's hard to talk about diplomacy now, but it seems to me that if you really want a secure israeli—lebanese border, then you're going to have to figure out a way to do it diplomatically, first to identify the points of contention — there are a dozen along the israeli—lebanese land border. Half of them have been resolved, but to resolve the others, and then of course to implement un security council resolution 1701, which brought to an end the summer war of 2006. We're a long way away from that, and i'm afraid that it's going to be increasingly frustrating for the israelis to achieve what they want to achieve, certainly in a matter of weeks, that they're claiming. T of weeks, that they're claiming— of weeks, that they're claimina. . , ,. , of weeks, that they're claimina. . , ,,. , ~ of weeks, that they're claimina. . . ,~. , claiming. I mean, if you take a look at the _ claiming. I mean, if you take a look at the situation _ claiming. I mean, if you take a look at the situation right look at the situation right now, we've got those threats from hezbollah, from iranian proxies. You've also got those drone attacks from iraq. So i just wonder how you think israel will go about balancing what is a multifront challenge, and of course also the situation, the conflict there in gaza as well. — situation, the conflict there in gaza as well. Yeah, i'm not sure the _ in gaza as well. Yeah, i'm not sure the israelis _ in gaza as well. Yeah, i'm not sure the israelis are _ in gaza as well. Yeah, i'm not sure the israelis are that sure the israelis are that concerned about the southern front. I mean, after all, concerned about the southern front. I mean, afterall, hamas as an organised military force has been decimated, 23 out of its 24 has been decimated, 23 out of its 2a battalions. Hamas is going to survive as an insurgency which is going to make post—conflict politics in gaza extremely politics and of course the prospect of hamas over time, course the prospect of hamas overtime, it course the prospect of hamas over time, it will take years to rebuild. The problem, however, neither in gaza nor in lebanon. We're in on the cusp of what has never been experienced before is a major front war,ing experienced before is a major front war, ing attack experienced before is a major front war,ing attack drones, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, fighter aircraft, ai, cyber, and i'm referring specifically to the reality that within the next 48 hours or so, the israelis will respond to iran's ballistic missile surge earlier this week and if the israelis do respond, evenif and if the israelis do respond, even if they limit their response to ballistic missile—launchers, weapons deb —— depots, i think the iranians are now so invested in trying to preserve the regime's credibility, which has been hit in so many ways over the last two weeks, that the iranians will respond. And if they respond along the lines that they did earlier this week, or even more severely, i suspect the israelis will broaden their target sets to include, at a minimum, economic infrastructure. And that, i suspect, will unleash the full power of iran's 3,000 ballistic missile inventory, not as sophisticated or as modernised as the israeli military capacity, but you could also draw in the united states. It's a very worrisome situation. We've got about 20 seconds left, but do you see, then, that conflict potentially spiralling with iran as opposed to purely through its proxies? i do. I think iran has now attacked israel twice. Ithink the israelis need to make sure that this does not become the new normal. But i'm afraid we are moving up the escalatory ladder and we're in a more uncertain, dangerous point, i think, from a regional perspective, than the middle east has been in in decades or i would argue ever. Lebanon says a number of hospitals in the south of the country are out of action. And the un says all 900 government shelters for the displaced are now full. 0ur senior international correspondent 0rla guerin reports from southern lebanon. An escape route from lebanon today, now passable — just — by foot. Israel bombed the road overnight, claiming hezbollah was smuggling weapons beneath it. Most of those struggling across this border are syrians, escaping lebanon's war to go home to their own. Who wouldn't want to escape this? beirut last night — another massive israeli strike one mile from the airport. The target — the likely next leader of hezbollah, his fate unknown. Day and night and country—wide, israel is bombing. This is in the south, in tyre. Was there a hezbollah target here? we don't know, but locals say israel killed five people from one family, including two women and a baby. Everybody here were children. Family, children, everybody here. Why? hassan was here outside his coffee shop when the air strike killed his neighbours at the weekend. Translation: two missiles came. I saw the first one landing. I was thrown from there to there. And the second missile sent me flying again, me and the guys. Now, i'm terrified if i hear this sound. Hassan insists there were no weapons stored nearby, and all the dead were civilians. It's not right. It's not right at all. I wish i'd died with them. In lebanon now, many are lost and weary, and fear this war may bejust beginning. Explosions. So, we're just hearing explosions now. That's the sound of outgoing fire — that's rockets being fired from quite close by hezbollah, targeting israeli positions. A whole stream of rockets being fired now. Israel has released this footage of its troops on lebanese soil, apparently advancing. But the invaders may face a hard fight here, as happened in the past. And how will the middle east look on the day after? few would dare to guess. 0rla guerin, bbc news, southern lebanon. I spoke with ciaran donnelly, the senior vice—president of international programs at the international rescue committee. How are the aid efforts there coping, especially when we're also hearing that you've got shelters at full capacity? that's right. The international rescue committee has almost 400 staff working across lebanon and, of course, lebanon has struggled over the last number of years with the after effects of years with the after effects of the covid crisis, the beirut blast. It's suffering from an economic and a social service crisis. So this escalation and the humanitarian crisis that it has brought about comes on top of an already struggling economy and already struggling population, and it really is having a devastating effect. There's about a quarter of the population, overa there's about a quarter of the population, over a million people, have been displaced, fleeing to beirut and further north. We're hearing that the 900 shelters that the government has established are already at capacity. Many people are not able to find shelter. People are sleeping in cars and under bridges and on the beaches, particularly some of the most vulnerable, including syrian refugees. 0ver including syrian refugees. Over a million syrians have fled from syria into lebanon as a result of the 13—year—old civil war there. 37. . . About 10% of the health facilities in lebanon have closed. Hospitals have been evacuated. There's a shortage of medicines and health care workers. It really is a very, very dire humanitarian situation and at risk of getting worse. Humanitarian situation and at risk of getting worse. Needs on all fronts there, _ risk of getting worse. Needs on all fronts there, as _ risk of getting worse. Needs on all fronts there, as you risk of getting worse. Needs on all fronts there, as you were i all fronts there, as you were just mentioning. Ijust want all fronts there, as you were just mentioning. I just want to briefly touch on the situation in gaza as well, because the un now reporting a 40% rise in people missing out on food rations last month. Just bring us up to date, once again, about the situation there for civilians, and the challenges when it comes to clearly getting aid through when we know that those air strikes continue as well. So know that those air strikes continue as well. — continue as well. So the situation _ continue as well. So the situation in _ continue as well. So the situation in gaza continue as well. So the i situation in gaza continues continue as well. So the situation in gaza continues to be a humanitarian nightmare for people living there. 2 million people living there. 2 million people dependent on aid from the outside world and aid is not getting through in the quantities that's needed. We've seen a reduction in the volumes, both of aid trucks getting in but also commercial trucks that are bringing in food and other supplies to keep markets going in gaza over the last couple of months. We saw a slight uptick at the beginning of the summer but that really has reduced. And so the warnings that the international community has been sounding about food insecurity and levels of famine and catastrophic levels of food insecurity in gaza are really very much on our minds, especially as we enter the winter months. What's needed to be able to remedy this is to remove some of the obstacles that we're seeing to the aid efforts. That includes security for aid workers on the ground, the ability to get both staff and supplies across the borders, to reduce and streamline some of the inspections and other administrative barriers that are stopping people from getting in and stopping supplies from getting in. But critically, of course, it is in the midst of an ongoing conflict, with ongoing air strikes on the ground and gazan bombardments and so on, it's bombardments and so on, its next to impossible to scale up the aid efforts to the level that's needed. So really what's needed is a ceasefire to bring about safety for palestinian civilians in gaza, a scale—up of the aid effort and, of course, a release of the hostages who still are held there. There's a real risk that with the widening of the conflict in the region, that gaza slips from the focus and things get even worse for the people there as winter begins to set in in the coming months. And ijust wonder, as humanitarians, what kind of conversations are you having about that? the fact that we are now speak being the possibility of a broader conflict in the middle east. How does that complicate your efforts in terms of managing aid and keeping that attention on dire situations?— on dire situations? well, whether— on dire situations? well, whether it's for on dire situations? well, whether it's for us on dire situations? well, whether it's for us at on dire situations? well, whether it's for us at the j on dire situations? well, whether it's for us at the icr as one aid agency, or across the whole sector, we're really taking stock of the challenge of how do we keep our eye on multiple fronts at the same time. It's gaza today and it's lebanon today, but we've seen air strikes in yemen, the risk of a further deterioration. 0bviously we've got 350,000 people who have gone from lebanon into syria, a country that's already suffering the effects of civil war. What we're doing is taking stock of how we can support our teams, how we can support our teams, how we can pre—position funding and planning to be able to support the un is issuing appeals as you'll have seen and donors are beginning to allocate funding but it's not close to what's needed to be able to support a scale—up of the efforts. Able to support a scaleup of the efforts— the efforts. Ciaran donnelly, the efforts. Ciaran donnelly, the senior— the efforts. Ciaran donnelly, the senior vicepresident. The efforts. Ciaran donnelly, the senior vicepresident of| the senior vice—president of international programmes at the international rescue committee, thanks a lot. International rescue committee, thanks a lot— iran's supreme leader ayatollah khamenei led prayers in tehran on friday morning, delivering a defiant address and saying his country will not back down in its confrontation with israel. Caroline hawley looks at the significance of his speech. This is the man who, as his title suggests, has ultimate power in iran. He very rarely leads friday prayers, so the world was watching what he had to say today. The crowds were huge, the regime trying to project an image of strength after a series of humiliating blows to its allies. Supporters gathered first to commemorate the hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah, killed in an israeli air strike a week ago today. And then out came the supreme leader, who last friday was reported to have gone into hiding amid fears for his safety. He tried to rally muslims across the middle east against israel. He defended the hamas attack of october 7 and insisted iran's missile attack earlier this week was a completely legitimate response to what israel had done. Translation: what our armed forces did was the minimum punishment for the usurping zionist regime's astonishing crimes. On tuesday night, iran fired close to 200 ballistic missiles at israel, most of them shot down, with one palestinian man killed in the west bank. Benjamin netanyahu has said israel will pay a heavy price and warned there was nowhere in the middle east israel could not reach. Iran is now central to the conflict spreading across the region. It backs armed groups that are enemies of israel, and israel is taking them on one by one. Take gaza, where hamas has been pounded by israel, with thousands of its fighters killed. Now, hezbollah in lebanon, where israeli air strikes are taking out its leaders and infrastructure. And then the houthis in yemen have been attacking shipping in the red sea. Israel has struck them too, and all of this is a direct challenge to iran and its regional power. The supreme leader's message today was that despite these setbacks, its so—called axis of resistance won't back down. Hey, folks. And tonight, president biden said israel is still considering its response to iran's missile attack. Look, the israelis have every right to respond to the vicious attacks on them, not just from the iranians, but from everyone from hezbollah, the houthis. . . Anyway. But the fact is that they have to be very much more careful about dealing with civilian casualties. Ayatollah ali khamenei also made it clear iran will hit back if it feels it needs to, as it braces itself for israel's retaliation in whatever form that comes. I spoke to randa slim, a senior fellow and director of conflict resolution at the middle east institute. Aaron david miller, and he was saying, in his long career, he believes this is one of the most, if not the most, dangerous moment he has seen in the middle east. What's your take on that? yes, i totally agree with aaron. I mean we are in the midst of a regional war right now, but the question is are we going to go into an all—out war? and i mean by that this larger confrontation between iran and israel. I hope that we don't get there. I hope that. . . I mean israel is going to respond. Most likely, depending on how israel responds, iran will react and maybe we are going to be in for a couple of rounds for tit—for—tat between the two countries and maybe eventually they'll come to some kind of an understanding on the cessation of that kind of exchange. Do you see the possibility for us involvement in that? well, depending on how iran responds to the israeli attack, israel cannot mount a war with iran, a sustained war with iran, targeting nuclear installati