Hour, huge clouds of smoke has been seen rising from beirut after a series of explosions. Huge plumes of smoke 2530 minutes ago. The israeli defense forces have claimed to attack hezbollah s central headquarters in beirut saying the headquarters is under residential buildings in the suburb of the cities south. It would not stop until its objectives were met. Air strikes have continued throughout the course of the day with thousands of people being killed in lebanon. Hezbollah has been Firing Rockets into israeli cities including. Just in the last Half Hour, as i was saying, these huge blasts in beirut with the israelis giving details about their operations. More about that in a moment. Anna foster is there for us. Shes been describing what it actually felt like when those blasts went off, notjust seeing those plumes of smoke, but physically what that felt like that so many different people describing these as the since the beginning of this conflict. I will speak to anna in a moment, b
Is why on their day of conviction, i ordered an independent inquiry into the events at the countess of chester hospital, making sure the families that have answers. I asked the Police Liaison officers to meet these families at the earliest possible opportunity for options as to the form the inquiry should take. It was clear their wishes were for a statutory inquiry, with the power to compel witnesses to give evidence under oath. That is why i am confirming this to the house today. This inquiry will in quiet the cases wider circumstances, including the trusts response to clinicians who raised the alarm and the conduct of the wider nhs and its regulators. And i can confirm to the house that lady justice regulators. And i can confirm to the house that Ladyjustice Thirlwall will lead this inquiry. She is one of the countrys most seniorjudges, currently sitting in the Court Of Appeal and with many years of experience as a seniorjudge and a senior barrister before that. Before making this st