In accordance with the decision of the political echelon, a few hours ago, the idf began limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern lebanon. These targets are located in villages close to the border and pose an immediate threat to israeli communities in northern israel. This is the live scene in beirut, as bbc teams report hearing explosions in the capital s southern suburbs israel has ordered the evacuation of three areas. Meanwhile the uk government has chartered a flight to help british nationals leave lebanon, scheduled to leave beirut on wednesday. It s as israeli tanks were seen gathering at the border on monday. Israel s defense minister yoav gallant said the military is prepared to use forces from the air, land and sea to allow thousands of displaced israelis to return to their homes in the north. Meanwhile, the deputy chief of hezbollah, naim qaissem, said the groups fighter
This is the live scene in beirut, as bbc teams report hearing explosions in the capital s southern suburbs israel has ordered the evacuation of three areas. Meanwhile the uk government has chartered a flight to help british nationals leave lebanon, scheduled to leave beirut on wednesday. It s as israeli tanks were seen gathering at the border on monday. Israel s defense minister yoav gallant said the military is prepared to use forces from the air, land and sea to allow thousands of displaced israelis to return to their homes in the north. Meanwhile, the deputy chief of hezbollah, naim qaissem, said the groups fighters are ready to confront an invasion. He acknowledged the assassination of leader, hassan nasrallah, was a big blow but said all fallen commanders would soon be replaced. Let s get the latest now from our correspondent on the border between israel and lebanon, lucy williamson. We ve been hearing helicopters overhead for a while now and also the sound of artillery, som
Displaced israelis to return to their homes in the north. Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief of hezbollah, naim qaissem, said the groups fighters are ready to confront an invasion. He acknowledged that the assassination of leader Hassan Nasrallah was a big blow, but said all fallen commanders would soon be replaced. President Joe Biden maintained his call for an end to fighting. Weve also heard from the us department of defense. Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh spoke to the bbc about the conflict in the last hour. What theyre doing along the northern border is conducting limited operations to dismantle hezbollah infrastructure, but again its really for the israelis to speak to in their own operations. What the secretary continues to urge for is to seek a diplomatic solution. We certainly want to see regional tensions cool, we want to see. We see the best path forward is through diplomatic means, and so that is what we are continuing to push for. Officials in lebanon say more than
So, what do we know about hezbollah s capabilities . Bbc verify s Nawal Al Maghafi has more. Wednesdays attack by hezbollah is believed to be the first time ever that a ballistic missile from the armed group has been launched towards tel aviv. Let me take you through the details of the attack and why it symbolises such a significant escalation. This video, filmed from eastern tel aviv, was posted around 6. 1i0am on Social Media and it shows the moments after the single surface to Air Missile was intercepted by israel using its Air Defence system. This white plume of smoke is where the missile had been intercepted. There were no casualties or injuries reported as a result of the attack. In a statement, hezbollah confirmed that it launched the missile. It said it was targeting the headquarters of israels intelligence agency, mossad, which it believes is in this location, north of tel aviv. Hezbollah also said that mossad was responsible for assassinating leaders and blowing up pagers and