11:12AM
Lebanese hospitals told to scrap non-urgent procedures The Lebanese health ministry has told hospitals in the south and east to suspend all non-urgent surgeries in order to treat those wounded in Israeli air strikes.
10:49AM
Lebanon’s PM denounces Israel’s ‘destructive plan’ The Lebanese prime minister denounced Israel’s “destructive plan” as the IDF carried out a fresh wave of air strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Monday.
“The continuing Israeli aggression on Lebanon is a war of extermination in every sense of the word and a destructive plan that aims to destroy Lebanese villages and towns,” Najib Mikati told a cabinet meeting.
Mr Mikati urged “the United Nations and the General Assembly and influential countries… to deter the (Israeli) aggression”.
Israel said it attacked hundreds of targets in Lebanon on Monday morning REUTERS 10:24AM
Israel launches 300 strikes on Hezbollah targets The Israeli military said it launched around 300 strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Monday.
It came after Lebanese residents were told to evacuated their homes ahead of “extensive, precise” air strikes.
9:58AM
Sirens heard in northern Israel As the IDF confirmed it had launched a fresh wave of air strikes against Hezbollah, air sirens were heard ringing out in communities in northern Israel, close to the border with Lebanon.
9:39AM
IDF begins new wave of strikes against Hezbollah The Israeli military has launched a new wave of attacks against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
“The IDF (Israel Defence forces) is currently conducting strikes on terror targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in southern Lebanon,” the military just said in a statement.
9:21AM
IDF tells Lebanese civilians: strikes are imminent The IDF has posted a message in Arabic telling Lebanese citizens that strikes on homes used to store Hezbollah weapons are “imminent”.
“Hezbollah is lying to you and sacrificing you,” Avichay Adraee said. “Its missiles and drones are more valuable and important to it than you are.”
It comes after Lebanese citizens were warned to evacuate areas near sites where Hezbollah weapons are stored. Residents have reported receiving text messages and calls warning them to leave.
This includes residents in the capital city of Beirut ahead of an anticipated “large-scale attack” by Israel.
9:00AM
‘We are deepening our attacks in Lebanon,’ says defence minister Israel is deepening its attacks against Hezbollah, Israel’s defence minister said, as he urged the public to “show composure” in the coming days.
Speaking on Monday, Yoav Gallant said he expected intensified fire from across the border this week.
“We are deepening our attacks in Lebanon, the actions will continue until we achieve our goal to return the northern residents safely to their homes,” Mr Gallant said.
“These are days in which the Israeli public will have to show composure.”
Yoav Gallant, Israeli defence minister, said he expects more attacks from Lebanon in the coming days Anadolu 8:44AM
IDF lays out goals in Lebanon An IDF official has said the military will only carry out an aerial bombardment campaign after being asked if a ground invasion of Lebanon was imminent.
The Israeli military wants to degrade Hezbollah’s ability to fire rockets over the border at communities in northern Israel and push its fighters back from the border.
The third aim is to destroy the terror infrastructure built by the Radwan forces, Hezbollah’s elite infantry force, which the official said would be used to attack Israeli citizens.
The Israeli military will only focus on an aerial campaign, according to an IDF official AFP 8:18AM
Analysis: Why Hezbollah won’t fire its most advanced missiles – yet It might be foolhardy to poke the Russian bear, but poking the Lebanese one seems to be a different matter.
Hezbollah is almost unquestionably the world’s most formidable non-state fighting force. Its military capability exceeds that of the armies of many Middle Eastern states, Lebanon among them. Its vast arsenal includes guided missiles that could hit any Israeli city.
Yet the group’s response to days of provocation has been pretty tepid so far.
Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, had repeatedly warned Israel that any airstrikes on its strongholds in southern Beirut would be met with a salvo of rocket strikes on Tel Aviv.
In the past two months, Israel has twice bombed the Lebanese capital, killing some of Nasrallah’s most experienced battlefield commanders. Last week, thousands of Hezbollah’s rank-and-file were incapacitated in synchronised attacks on the group’s pagers and walkie-talkie radios.
Hezbollah’s response has not quite been to bend over and ask for more.
Read the full story here.
8:01AM
In pictures: Israel launches ‘extensive’ airstrikes in Lebanon Israel launched a fresh wave of “extensive, precise’ air strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Monday.
Below we can see the aftermath of those strikes, with smoke billowing through the sky as civilians walk along a nearby beach.
Smoke billows over southern Lebanon after Israel launched a fresh wave of “extensive” air strikes REUTERS People walk along a beach as smoke billows over southern Lebanon following a new wave of Israeli air strikes REUTERS 7:50AM
Israeli defence minister says he briefed US on Hezbollah strikes Israel’s defence minister said on Monday that he spoke with his Washington counterpart about the military’s latest strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Provided the Secretary with a situation assessment of Hezbollah threats and briefed him on IDF (Israel Defense Forces) operations to degrade Hezbollah’s ability to launch attacks against Israeli civilians,” Yoav Gallant said.
“We also discussed the wider regional situation and the threats posed by Iran and its proxies,” he added.
7:43AM
IDF calls on civilians to evacuate from Lebanese villages The Israeli army is calling on civilians in Lebanese villages to evacuate from areas where Hezbollah is storing cruise missiles, rockets and drones in civilian buildings.
“We advise civilians from Lebanese villages located in and next to buildings and areas used by Hezbollah for military purposes, such as those used to store weapons, to immediately move out of harm’s way for their own safety,” Daniel Harari, the IDF’s spokesperson, said.
The IDF also released drone and 3D illustrations allegedly showing how Hezbollah is storing large cruise missiles in civilian homes throughout southern Lebanon.
A military official said in a briefing to foreign journalists that this marks the first time since Oct 8 that the army is issuing this type of “advanced warning” in Lebanon, after Israel detected a 300 kg Russian-made cruise missile about to be launched at Israel from a civilian home.
“We are using all available media platforms to communicate this warning in Arabic,” a military official said.
The official said that the Russian-made cruise missile was likely “smuggled from Syria into Lebanon,” adding that Hezbollah has turned southern Lebanon into a “battlefield” by embedding its military capabilities into civilian homes.
The IDF said it conducted “extensive” airstrikes across Lebanon to further destroy Hezbollah’s military capabilities.
7:36AM
Middle East headlines Good morning and welcome to our live coverage.
We’re bringing you the latest from the Middle East as Israel and Hezbollah continue to fire rockets at one another amid escalating tensions.
Here’s the latest headlines:
The Israeli military has called on Lebanese civilians to “immediately” evacuate any buildings where Hezbollah is storing arms.It comes after the IDF said it was preparing to launch “extensive, precise” strikes on Hezbollah targetsThe senior Hezbollah leaders killed in an Israeli airstrike on Friday were meeting to discuss plans to invade Israel in an October-7 style attack, Israel’s president said.Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said his group was in a “new phase” in its battle against Israel which he described as an “open-ended battle of reckoning”.